Youth Service America guide offers tools for students to solve big community problems
WASHINGTON – (February 26, 2010) –Youth Service America released the new Semester of Service Strategy Guide, presenting step-by-step instructions on engaging children and youth in identifying and solving critical problems in their community. The guide was developed to help educators engage young people in an extended service-learning framework over an academic semester.
Geared toward K-12 educators and available for free download at www.YSA.org, the guide supports YSA’s Semester of Service initiative, linking prominent days of service, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service in January and Global Youth Service Day in April. Using the 70 hour framework students are encouraged to study and then taking action on a meaningful community need connected to academic standards.
The strategy guide walks educators through the new “IPARD/C model”, five stages of service-learning that include Investigation, Preparation and Planning, Action, Reflection, and Demonstration / Celebration. Broadly focused across the curriculum, the guide offers useful examples on how to make authentic connections with science, math, language arts, civics, and health. Filled with tested project examples, the guide also includes pages designed for student use.
“The Semester of Service Strategy Guide is YSA’s enrichment tool for teachers,” said Steve Culbertson, YSA president and CEO. “We understand that service-learning might be intimidating at first. Our new guide demystifies that process, and makes it easy to bring service-learning into their classrooms. We believe strongly in the growing body of evidence that this teaching and learning strategy has a positive impact on students’ academic achievement and workplace skills, while creating real change in communities.”
“It’s our job to make this powerful strategy accessible, and we do so by providing free resources, technical assistance, and funding for projects,” added Culbertson.
In 2010, YSA will provide close to 400 grants supporting service-learning across the United States and in Canada. Through partnerships with State Farm Companies Foundation, UnitedHealth Group, Learn and Serve America, and the Corporation for National and Community Service, schools and organizations are providing youth opportunities to be leaders in their communities, addressing diverse issues that include childhood obesity, climate change, and poverty.
For more information about Semester of Service, visit www.YSA.org/semester.
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