Rationale: Citizenship and character are part of the curriculum for all of the subjects taught in the Plano ISD. Students are encouraged in a variety of ways to develop a deeper sense of civic and social responsibility to their community. Through projects and classroom assignments, students are exposed to the needs of others, creating an awareness of the needs of our community at large.

Volunteer hours are also included in the college admissions package at most universities in the United States. School documented hours through Service Learning are most desirable as admissions staff members review thousands of applicants as it is difficult for them to determine the validity of student reported data.

Definition: Service Learning consists of any act that contributes to the goals of a non-profit organization serving our community, or action that helps a individual who cannot afford assistance with normal life activities or is unable to care for themselves or family, or that in some way serves to fulfill a need in our community at large in a positive way.

Below are examples of activities that would not meet the requirements of Service Learning Project:

· Mowing your family’s lawn or babysitting for pay or free

· Any religious activities that does not involve an outreach aspect

· Office work for family members

· Cleaning up trash for neighborhood associations

· Shelving books at area libraries

· Working at the SPCA or any other animal shelter (ie Operation Kindness or other City animal shelters)

· Any activities for which compensation is given (money or reward of some kind.)

Project Assignment: This is an outside assignment to be completed by the student by Wednesday, December 1, 2004. This project will count as a major grade in this class.

1. Choose a service project that you are interested in as part of a civic responsibility in your community.

2. Spend 3 hours minimum, all at once or over time, participating in this project.

3. Have a supervisor verify your participation by signing the

verification form.

4. Return this form to your teacher no later than the deadline

given above.

5. Make notes regarding your experience to use later in a class discussion and reflection paper about the project and its impact on you as a citizen of Plano.

6. Include a photo of you involved in your project with the supervisor or leader. The picture should show some of the work you completed.

REFLECTIONS PAPER

Students should use notes from their experience to complete a 2 to 3 page paper discussing their thoughts and reactions to the assignment and the outcome of the project.

Discuss why you chose your project, tell a little bit about the organization you chose, discuss who your organization helps and how it began
What were your feelings before you began the project
What was your project like once you began
What did you learn about yourself from the project, how did it affect you, did anything surprise you?
How do you feel about community service now that the project is completed?
How were the people involved in your project affected by the work that you did? What do you remember the most about the day?
Would you chose to do another community service project? Would you only do it for credit for another class or would you work independently?

ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENT

For students unable to complete the required 3 hours of Community Service for the completion of the Reflections Paper, a student may elect to write a formal research paper. The paper will be titled “Volunteerism in the America” and should discuss the necessity for volunteers in community projects, provide examples of volunteerism and discuss the benefits of volunteerism programs in lieu of government intervention programs. The paper should also discuss how various presidential administrations since Franklin D. Roosevelt have supported volunteerism and appropriated funds to programs that support service organizations. Students should also collect data for their paper that can be represented on a bar graph that shows how the numbers of volunteers has either increased or decreased since the year the student was born. Finally, the student should highlight a number of service organizations to discuss their role in providing assistance to those in need.

Each paper will require a minimum of 5 book sources, one encyclopedia source, 2 government issued pamphlets about volunteerism, 3 internet sites and one bar graph. The paper should include a title page and formal bibliography in MLA format. All books and resources must be cited within the paper. The paper should be between 10 and 15 pages.

US History Service Learning Page