Add a service learning elective in high schools
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy inspired Americans to service by proclaiming, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.”
Adding an elective in service learning in commonwealth high schools can provide teenagers the inspiration to fulfill Kennedy’s dream and further enhance public education in Virginia. As citizens in Virginia, we are fortunate to have a strong K-12 public education program for our children. However, even impressive programs can be improved.
I have two children who graduated from a public high school in Virginia Beach. Both of them gravitated to service academies. In addition to receiving a fine academic education, both were afforded community service opportunities as part of their National Honor Society memberships where they learned the importance of service to a cause greater than one’s self. They learned the value of helping in their own community. All students (not just the students in the NHS) should have the option of guided participation in developing community knowledge and support. All of our students deserve the opportunity for creative thinking to address problems in their own communities before they become adults and inherit the issues. This can be accomplished by offering a high school elective in service learning.
Service learning is a teaching technique that mixes purposeful service to the community with curriculum-based learning. Typically service learning projects will address a need in their local community. It will increase student responsibility, character and civic engagement, help form community partnerships and empower students with increased knowledge about their locality. The commonwealth would join other jurisdictions in our nation with very successful service learning curricula.
Since 1997, Maryland has required every student to participate in service learning. However, the state started in the 1980s with service learning as an elective. Community projects there have addressed such needs as hunger, homelessness, illness and pollution, to name a few. According to the Maryland State Department
of Education, each year in Maryland the graduating class of approximately 59,000 students provides the greater community with approximately 4 million hours of service.
In Virginia, some examples of service learning may include:
■ studying flooding and implementing solutions such as the planting of trees and natural vegetation as mitigation efforts.
■ studying working farms and creating programs where residents can assist the farms by starting a composting program.
■ starting a tutoring program for younger students to mentor them and help increase test scores and a love of learning.
■ designing artwork or comfort items for a local children’s hospital to support young patients through a difficult time.
■ studying sustainability and encouraging the community to engage in changing wasteful habits.
■ identifying senior citizen needs in their city and designing programs to address those issues.
■ working with horticulturists to start community gardens especially to support underserved populations.
■ reviewing transportation in the area and designing a plan to alleviate traffic.
■ studying medical services available and implementing innovative solutions to reach more people in rural areas.
Adding service learning as a public high school elective will be beneficial for both our community and our students. It will expose students to current issues in their community, empower them to creatively address the problems and test their innovative solutions in a safe environment.
The citizens of Virginia will benefit from resolved issues in addition to knowing that the next generation truly cares and is equipped to tackle real world issues.
My hope is that next time you are speaking with someone in your community, members of your local school board, or your local delegate or state senator, that you will encourage them to research and support service learning as a public high school elective in Virginia. It truly is a win-win for students and citizens.
Terry Stevens of Virginia Beach was Volunteer of the Year for Red Mill Elementary School in 2019 and serves on the Board of Directors of Connect with a Wish, which works to positively enhance the lives of local children in foster care.