Alaska
From Service-Learning Wiki
Stretching thousands of miles from end to end, separated by ocean and mountains, Alaska requires resources and great patience to accomplish state initiatives. Thus, when the Learn and Serve America program began in 1992, Alaska opted to allow individual school districts to apply directly rather than attempt a statewide approach. From those seeds, service-learning has experienced slow growth. The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development managed service-learning grants until 2001, when it transferred the program to the Alaska State Community Service Commission.
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Networks of Support
New leadership at the ASCSC has taken the Learn and Serve Alaska program to a new level. Individual program and group needs assessments are being used to improve subgrantees’ training. The use of site visits and teleconferences has opened communication and developed a peer network of subgrantees. Subgrantees have expressed a desire for additional professional development, technical support, and a more thorough training curriculum.
In response, the ASCSC has developed regional training summits. AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve sub-grantees attend these trainings along with other service organizations. While the summits will be open to the public, their primary focus will be on professional development and technical assistance for Learn and Serve grantees and AmeriCorps members. The summits will include a service-learning track focused on best practices.
Convening and Celebrating
In 2008, the Alaska State Community Service Commission is celebrating Learn and Serve students and other volunteers with state-level awards. These awards will be presented at the statewide Recognition of Volunteers ceremony.
Policy Support
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Learn and Serve
Learn and Serve Alaska is situated in the Alaska State Community Service Commission within the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development, a community asset development agency. The ASCSC runs the AmeriCorps programs for the state and, through an agreement with the Department of Education, manages the Learn and Serve grant.
For the current grant cycle, Learn and Serve Alaska is emphasizing projects that increase civic knowledge and engagement. Four schools are currently supported and funds are matched by, and distributed through, the school district to which the applicant school belongs. Of these four Learn and Serve subgrantees, two require students to participate in service-learning as part of the requirements for graduation and two do not.
Grantees are required to account for their progress three times a year via budget and program reports. These reports discuss program activities, including any monitoring efforts. They also report training, technical assistance, or other capacity-building activities that have been implemented at the site. Finally, program reports include any lessons learned by subgrantees and a discussion of how challenges were addressed.
Youth Contributions
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Examples of Quality Service-Learning
References
- Cairn, Rich, Neal, Marybeth, and Crossley, Alison. 2006. "State Profiles" in Growing to Greatness 2006. St. Paul: National Youth Leadership Council.
- Schultz, Nate. 2008. "State Profiles" in Growing to Greatness 2008. St. Paul: National Youth Leadership Council.
External Links
- Learn and Serve America in Alaska
- National Service in Alaska (Corporation for National and Community Service)
- Serve Alaska
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