K-12 Service-Learning Projects Funded Through the Dara Jeanne Kaufman Fund
Fall 2009

 

 

Social Justice in Darfur Davis Street Interdistrict Magnet School – New Haven, Connecticut Grade: 6 The Darfur region of the Sudan is immersed in political turmoil, poverty and violence. Sixth-graders at Davis Street Interdistrict Magnet School studied the human rights and social justice issues related to this topic, and raised money to aid in the construction of a school in Darfur. Dara's Fund helped them create a video to educate the community about what they can do to promote human rights in Darfur. As the project progressed, students became knowledgeable about the topic and passionate about addressing the rights of women. Students willingly put in additional time and effort researching specific topics.

Learning about Immigration and Citizenship

South High Community School – Worcester, Massachusetts
Grade: 10

While learning about local immigration and the naturalization process, students created lessons to teach 5th graders about immigration and citizenship-both in Worcester and the United States during the 1800's. They spent 2 separate days at Union Hill school learning about what it means to be a citizen, how one becomes a citizen and which specific immigrant groups arrived here in the 1800's (the frameworks for both 10th and 5th grade history). The students also volunteered their time at the Naturalization Ceremony in Worcester, MA in June, 2010 to wrap up the project and get a sense of how important and special the citizenship process is. Community partners included: Carolan Kasper, 5th grade teacher at Union Hill School; Julie Dahlstrom-Immigration Lawyer; and Bob Kennedy, Mechanics Hall.

Students say:
"My family has been through the ceremony before and I was glad to help out." "Teaching lessons to 5th graders was harder than I thought."
"The Naturalization Ceremony was moving. It was nice to see how happy the immigrants were to finally become citizens."

Diversity in the Arts

LUK Crisis Center – Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Grades: 6-12

Students from Fitchburg, Ashburnham-Westminster, and Lunenburg School Districts explored the meaning of identity and diversity in their culturally and ethnically diverse region. By creating a collage of artistic pieces that highlight Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, students shared their ideas and encouraged their communities to work together. The youth exhibited learning standards that met the guidelines of creating and exploring the representation of ideas and symbolism by giving a face to Dr. King’s speech that displayed their individual connection to the speech while providing a collective impact to the community. The participant’s ability to render a new soul to existing material allowed for them to place their spin on the artistic possibilities of a joined enterprise. Community Partners: LUK’s youth partnered with students from Oakmont Regional High School (Ashburnham-Westminster); Turkey Hill Middle School (Lunenburg); 21st Century Afterschool Program (Fitchburg) and Fitchburg High School; Camilo Neves, local professional artist; and North Central Charter Essential School’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration to unveil the art project as a part of their ceremonies. Students gained recognition from their peers, teachers, and community members. In the process of creating the Martin Luther King, Jr. mural, two schools also created after school arts groups.

Students say:
"I never realized I didn't know that much about Dr. King, Jr."
"I didn't think it was possible to work together with other youth from my own region."
"I enjoyed the new experience of painting on tiles and had pride in my own work and the final project."

Garden of Dreams

Brunswick Jr. High School – Brunswick, Maine
Grades: 6-8

To address the problem of hunger in the local area, students started a garden project at their school. Master gardeners became key community partners, as well as a group of parents and teachers who all gave their expertise to maximize the amount of yield the students could produce. Students measured and figured out their space availability and planting procedures. The teachers within Brunswick Jr. High were extremely supportive and helped water and care for the garden with their own students in their classes outside of AIM, so the project became a school based "Outside Classroom" as well. Students gained new knowledge about nutrition, agriculture, and sustainability and demonstrated what they learned, due to the outcome of the vegetables, herbs and flowers grown. The vegetables were donated to their local food pantry.

	Students say: "This garden has made me feel better about our school environment." "I can take the skills I learned with me for the rest of my life."
	"I want to have a garden when I get older." "It's great to know how to be self sufficient and learn how to grow your own food." "I didn't realize that some kids in my classroom can't get fresh fruits and vegetables."

Peer HIV/AIDS Awareness Education

Newtown Youth and Family Services – Newtown, Connecticut
Grades: 8-12

A group of high school students formed an HIV/AIDS awareness group. They designed and collected pre and post test data to gauge the eighth graders awareness of AIDS/HIV facts. Post testing showed that after the education, 100% of the eighth graders were able to answer the questions: What 4 bodily fluids can transmit HIV? and What is a “risky” behavior concerning HIV? The high school peer educators were able to take information from the purchased curriculum (provided by Dara's Fund) and integrate into it learning from guest speakers, educators and research to devise a curriculum acceptable to the Board of Education as well as relevant to the eighth graders being educated. This project has allowed us to delve deeper into the curriculum and make additional improvements for the next school year. Community Partners involved with students included: Newtown Middle School Health Teacher, the Newtown Board of Education District Health Curriculum Coordinator, Interfaith Aids Ministry of Danbury, AIDS Project of Greater Danbury, Leeway House (New Haven), Bread and Roses (Stamford) and Newtown Youth and Family Services.

Elder Buddies

Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School – Haydenville, Massachusetts
Grades: 4-5

Students worked with elder buddies at a local long-term care facility. Through reading group sessions and meeting with their elder buddies, students learned about Alzheimer’s disease, the effects of a stroke, and developed activities appropriate for the elders’ cognitive and physical limitations. Socially, this project's emphasis on empathy, understanding and serving others brought the class together as a group and set the tone of the classroom for the year. Students made a book explaining what they had learned to help their younger peers at the school visit successfully with the elders. They also kept writing journals and reading journals. Our community partner was Overlook, a local long term care facility. Visiting experts were: Dr. Dan Levy, VA hospital; Priscilla Ross, a nurse with an elder care focus; Elizabeth Walton, physical therapist; Michael Hooker, elder law specialist; and Activity Director, Kim Park.

Vermicomposting at School

Presumpscot Elementary School – Portland, Maine
Grade: 3

Students expanded composting at their school by using red wiggler worms. They studied worm anatomy and physiology and how food waste is broken down into usable soil. Students noticed quickly that by using compost bins and a worm bin that the school has very minimal foods scraps that have to be thrown away. They were able to use their compost to plant their own indoor gardens. Students wrote their own Worm Bin Product Manual for kindergarten classes to use. Third graders also made three worm bins and have been going to the kindergarten classes as experts to teach about vermi-composting. Community partners involved were: Amy Witt, Master Gardener-UMaine Cooperative Extension; Teddi Reed, Nutritionist-UMaine Cooperative Extension; and Brett Thompson, Worm Composting Expert and Master Gardener.

Yoga in the Classroom

Coastal Ridge Elementary School – York, Maine
Grade: 4

To help students make healthy decisions and deal with stress, students recognized an excitement around using yoga throughout the school day to engage in a healthy lifestyle. Yoga mats were purchased and classrooms began implementing the exercise. They created DVD's guiding other children through basic yoga in the areas of calm, focus, strength, energize, cooperation, and posture. They also acted as leaders in the gymnasium for other classes. They surveyed the use of mats by different classes and found that all 4th grades and 2nd grades had used them. Community Partners were: CRES Parent Organization and Susan Gagner, physical therapist.

Students say:
"I enjoyed being a leader with younger kids."
"Editing the films in iMovie was challenging, but cool using technology."
"Yoga helps me and I think the day goes by more quickly."
"It's awesome that we made the DVD's."

 

Wetland Preservation

The Whitefield School – Whitefield, New Hampshire
Grade: 6

Adjacent to the students’ school is a forgotten wetland that was once an outdoor classroom. When the wetland was shown to the 6th grade class they were disgusted at how it looked. More than half of the students didn't know it was there. Students began taking data gathered from various water tests and interpreting it, and comparing it to other wetland water data to understand if the water source was polluted. They learned about adaptation of wetland species and how animals change to fit into the environment that they live in. In addition, students learned about the importance of not wasting water. They created informational posters on water waste and posted them throughout the school. Community partner: Appalachian Mountain Club. An expert came from the AMC once a month to help with water testing and education. The project will continue next school year.