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Grade Level: 9-12
Academic Areas: Social Studies, Science, CD &OS
Duration of service: Year Long
Character Virtues: Giving, Civic Virtue and Citizenship, Respect,
Responsibility
Service Areas: Human Services
Service Learning Project:
As part of the planning process, students will develop contacts
with local government in their communities at the village, city,
town, and/or county level, and establish collaborative partnerships
with Conservation Advisory Commissions, Environmental Commissions,
County Environmental Management Councils, Soil and Water Conservation
Districts, Water Quality Coordinating Committees, Cornell Cooperative
Extension, and/or environmental CBOs. Students will plan and host
an interagency, environmental, community needs assessment summit.
Using acquired information, students will work collaboratively
with agency personnel to identify and prioritize environmental
Service Learning projects. Students will plan, organize and implement
a year-long, after school and weekend Youth Conservation Corps
(YCC). Students will be responsible for seeking out resources,
materials, and equipment needed to accomplish their objectives.
YCC members will enlist additional community volunteers and develop
liaisons with RSVP programs, VISTA, and AmeriCorps. Students will
encourage agency personnel to act as program mentors and assist
in providing training and resources for project implementation.
Typical activities could include: stream bank stabilization, public
access improvement/enhancement (parks, fishing access, historic
sites, playgrounds), clean-ups (roadside, stream bank, community-wide),
erosion control, reforestation, wetland restoration, trail construction,
community green space creation, “tree mentoring,”
and other needs as specifically identified. This project will
link to Earth Science, Biology, Social Studies, and Environmental
Science.
Goals and Objectives
Academic
Learning Goal: Students will understand basic geomorphology and
issues of erosion and sedimentation.
Standard: MST # 4, # 7 / HPE & FCS # 3 / CD &OS # 1, #
2
Learning Goal: Students will understand basic concepts of eutrophication
and implications as related to water bodies.
Standard: MST # 4, # 7
Learning Goal: Students will be conversant with local environmental
government agencies, their functions, and the services they provide.
Standard: SS # 5
Learning Goal: Students will be able to relate human activity
to environmental degradation and identify detrimental societal
behaviors.
Standard: HPE & FCS # 3 / MST # 7
Service
Community need: Lack of care for local environment.
Possible Community Partners: Local government agencies, citizen
volunteer boards/commissions, RSVP, AmeriCorps Objective: To provide
a dedicated force for environmental improvement.
Objective: To instill a lifelong commitment to service and develop
a groundswell of grassroots activism from concerned and caring
environmental stewards.
Character
Virtue: Civic virtue and Citizenship
Objective: Develop responsible young adults that utilize the democratic
process and actively participate in local government. Through
reflection on their participation, students will come to recognize
their individual power to affect beneficial change.
Virtue: Giving
Objective: Open new horizons of personal satisfaction from giving
time for the benefit of the local community and environment.
Virtue: Respect
Objective: Develop individual and group respect for natural and
built environments.
Virtue: Responsibility
Objective: Through positive action to improve their community,
students will take ownership of their environment. With ownership,
responsible stewards are empowered .
Key Activities
Key Planning Activities
1. Students will use the Internet, telephones, and local government
directories to research and prepare a mailing list and invitations
for Conservation Advisory Commissions, Environmental Commissions,
County Environmental Management Councils, Soil and Water Conservation
Districts, Water Quality Coordinating Committees, Cornell Cooperative
Extension, and/or environmental CBOs. Through their research,
they will become familiar with each agency’s or organization’s
role, mission, and functions.
2. Students will plan and host an interagency, environmental,
community needs assessment summit. Through the summit, students
will develop an understanding of each agency’s/organization’s
resources and deficiencies. Students will work with agency/organization
staff to find areas of environmental need and cooperatively plan
Service Projects to meet the identified need.
Key Service Activities
1. Students will plan, organize and implement a year-long, after
school and weekend Youth Conservation Corps (YCC). This will include
development of a constitution and bylaws, preparing an organizational
structure, election of officers, and holding regular meetings.
2. Students will be responsible for seeking out resources, materials,
and equipment needed to accomplish their objectives. YCC members
will enlist additional community volunteers and develop liaisons
with RSVP programs, VISTA, and AmeriCorps. Students and recruited
volunteers will establish liaisons with local businesses, corporations
and other potential donors to plan and establish a long-term support
structure for their YCC.
Key Reflection Activities
1. (oral and written) (Pre) Students will discuss and prepare
a list of what they envision as environmental needs of the community
using relevant newspaper articles, news reports and anecdotal
sources as discussion points. Students will prepare a matrix that
demonstrates relevant connections (both positive and negative)
between their perceived environmental needs and the character
virtues of Giving, Respect, Responsibility, and Civic Virtue and
Citizenship. (Middle) After hosting the environmental community
needs assessment, students will compare actual, identified needs
with their perceived needs and reflect on the differences.
2. (performance) Students will role play different scenarios in
which the local environment could be damaged. For each scenario,
the first role play will demonstrate how this damage could come
about while the second role play will introduce the character
virtues to alter the damaging situations.
Celebration Activity
Regular YCC meetings and shared meals provide an opportunity
to develop a social atmosphere of community, respect, and team
spirit. At each meeting and shared meal, students and committee
members will share their triumphs and challenges. Inclusion of
parents and community members at meetings would be standard practice.
By contributing to the pot-luck meals and through inter-generational
interaction, community and team spirit would be strengthened.
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