SERVICE LEARNING TRIPS MUST FOR STUDENT GROWTH

Service learning trips allow students to go beyond academics and gain real world experience. As a science teacher at Universal American School (UAS) in Dubai, I have seen benefits of service learning while chaperoning a Million Tree Project trip to Inner Mongolia in 2012 and more recently on a Week Without Walls trip to the Tsavo Re- gion of Kenya. From a teacher’s perspective, these expeditions are invaluable for student growth and provide opportunities for learners to positively contribute to local communities.

While on Inner Mongolia and Kenya service learning expeditions, middle school and high school students assisted people in communities by reaching for shovels. In Inner Mongolia, students planted hundreds of trees to mitigate desertification while providing sustainable economic opportunities.

In Kenya, students dug deep with shovels to turn sand, water, and cement as they worked up sweat, blisters, and sore backs to re-finish a concrete floor for a classroom at Mkamenyi Primary School. Who can argue with learning outcomes that stem from creating a better learning environment and good old fashioned hard work?

The UAS students taught lessons to middle schoolers at Mkamenyi Primary School focused on energy and literacy. With the help of Dr Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots and Million Solar Stars, UAS students provisioned solar reading lights for Kenyan students to read after dark.

There is a wide array of opportunity for service learning with various destinations and providers that help schools plan logistics so teachers can focus on connecting activities to curriculum. My teaching colleagues and I found Camps International, our provider for our recent trip to Kenya, outstanding.

By focusing on helping people and communities, service learning trips are effective ways for middle school and high school learners to expand their world views while empowering students to become more caring individuals and responsible global citizens.