ABOUT NYSSLLI

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About NYSSLLI

The New York State Service Learning Leadership Institute Inc. is an organization dedicated to the development and implementation of service learning, character education and civic engagement opportunities, programs and services for the members of our communities and schools.
Our Institute is the culmination of a concept that began over six years ago. Originally funded under grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service, including a $750,000 three year grant from the Fund for the Advancement of Service Learning and a $1.5 million three year grant from the Community, Higher Education and Schools Partnerships (CHESP) program. There are now four thriving regional service-learning institutes that include the Finger Lakes Regional Service Learning Institute, Capital Region Service Learning Institute, Mid-Hudson Service Learning Institute and the New York Metropolitan Institute.

Over the past six years these institutes have provided and continue to provide professional and curriculum development services, technical assistance and resources to help expand service learning as a teaching methodology within New York State. The Institutes have trained approximately 7,000 service learning student consultants; pre-service, in-service and classroom teachers; postsecondary faculty, and community based organization staff in the service learning methodology. Service Learning projects involving approximately 47,000 students, from over 70 school districts have been developed in collaboration with over 20 postsecondary institutions and 100 community based organizations. These student driven, curriculum integrated projects have helped address many currently unmet educational public safety, human, homeland security and environmental needs of our state’s urban suburban and rural communities. The beneficial impact on students include positive improvements in academic performance; school attendance; and youth social, personal and leadership development.

More recently, the Institutes have become an integral part in the implementation of a four year $2 million Character Education research grant received by the Albion Central School District from the US Department of Education entitled “Learning to Serve with Character.” The goal of the grant is to develop academically based lesson plans that will infuse service learning into character education curricula and integrate character education principles into service learning curricula and programs. This project will help strengthen school-wide character education programs that were mandated for New York State Schools as part of the recent School Against Violence Education (SAVE) legislation.

In the near future we will be developing civic engagement efforts and programs, based on character education and service learning principles, that will foster increased student civic engagement and participation and an awareness of civic knowledge, attitudes, behavior and responsibility with their schools and communities.