District of Columbia
From Service-Learning Wiki
Service-learning has built widespread interest in the District of Columbia community, including some of the many public charter schools. Serve DC will concentrate outreach efforts on teachers in traditional public high schools in order to cultivate the seeds sewn over a decade of service-learning in the district.
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History
In 1995, the District of Columbia began requiring its 70,000 students to complete 100 hours of community service prior to graduation. Students may complete service hours independently or through service-learning integrated into the curriculum. The program aims to increase students' perception of self-worth, provide experiences for students to contribute to society and prepare students for the world of work. To date, 15,000 students have contributed over 3.5 million hours of service and have received $30,000 in scholarship awards for community service and service-learning initiatives.
Tight budgets ended the school district's Office of Community Service and Service-Learning Programs, yet seeds planted through the 1990s continue to bear fruit. Many schools still have service-learning coordinators. As schools scaled back support for service-learning, community organizations stepped into the leadership position.
The DC Unified Plan for National and Community Service emphasized efforts to strengthen children, families, and elders, especially through after-school programs. In 2003, Serve DC, the DC Commission on National and Community Service, convened the leaders of several service-learning partners. Their plan to expand service-learning evolved into a successful proposal for community-base Learn and Serve funding of $325,000 per year. Through Serve DC, six subgrantees received $60,000 each, to be used from 2003-2006. Three more subgrantees received that amount for 2005-2006 only.
Networks of Support
The 2007-2009 District of Columbia State Service Plan calls for greater collaboration among national service partners in three priority areas: civic engagement, emergency preparedness, and inclusion of young people with disabilities. To achieve goals pertaining to service-learning, Serve DC will increase cross-collaboration among AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve programs; foster a service-learning network to include teachers and youth practitioners; increase the number of Learn and Serve sub-grantees; and promote participation in service-learning professional development opportunities.
Education priorities of the Executive Office of the Mayor, the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education, and the District of Columbia Public Schools will be supported through Serve DC’s new initiative Volunteers In Public Schools. It will connect volunteers and community-based organizations with DC public schools, supporting community-school partnerships and establishing a means of clear communication between agencies.
Convening and Celebrating
Serve DC hosts several annual service-learning professional development opportunities that convene members of the District’s youth development, service-learning, and national service communities. The DC Conference on Service and Leadership provides professional development for participants from all streams of national service. Two larger service-learning training institutes each year are open to practitioners throughout the District.
In addition, Serve DC promotes service-learning through the District’s program volunteer, a portfolio of national and global service opportunities for people to serve in their communities. As part of this program Serve DC organizes local activities for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Global Youth Service Day, and Patriot’s Day, as well as assisting partner organizations with planning and implementing days of service such as Make a Difference Day and DC Public Schools Beautification Day.
Policy Support
In 1996 the District of Columbia began requiring students to complete 100 hours of community service or service-learning prior to graduation — including charter school students. Service hours may be completed independently or integrated into the curriculum. Serve DC’s national and local service efforts provide opportunities for students to meet this requirement.
Learn and Serve
The District of Columbia’s Learn and Serve America program is administered by Serve DC- The Mayor's Office on Volunteerism, and is dedicated to promoting and expanding service-learning during in-school and out-of-school time programming. The organization administers School-Based Formula Learn and Serve America grants to 7 sub-grantees. Serve DC supports school-based service-learning programming in partnership with the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
Serve DC Sub-Grantee examples include:
- Elementary students from Ferebee-Hope Community School Complex, in collaboration with Communities in Schools of the Nation’s Capital and Discovery Creek Children’s Museum, engaging in science and service-learning activities pertaining to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
Previous Serve DC Sub-Grantee examples include:
- Kid Power DC, a community youth organization serving nearly 150 public school students at six schools in the District of Columbia, promoting the importance of neighborhood history and fostering youth leadership through programs connecting literacy and art with civic action.
- Youth Service Opportunities Project, a community-based organization with students attending Cardoza Senior High School, implementing in-school and out-of-school time service-learning focused on hunger, homelessness, and poverty. Students engage in pre-service orientation, meaningful service, and reflection.
Youth Contributions
This section is in need of expansion. You can help by expanding it.
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 the District of Columbia
- National Service in the District of Columbia (Corporation for National and Community Service)
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