Service Learning:
We began a partnership with the Mescalero
Apache School (Mescalero, NM) in the fall of 1997. Some
of our accomplishments resulting from this partnership include:
High school students in the spring of 1998 named
the service learning program,
Project BIONIC (Believe It Or Not, I Care!)
Community service was established as a requirement
for high school graduation. A service learning class was established
for 4 years at the high school and for 2 years at the middle school.
High school students are now supported to find service opportunities
in the school and throughout the reservation community.
Elementary school teachers found ways to incorporate
service learning into aspects of the school's Character Counts curriculum.
A Key Club (part of Kiwanis Club) was established
at the high school. It has operated for 3 years and was the first
Key Club to be established on an Indian reservation.
During the 2002-2003 school year, 13 high school
students provided over 1,700 hours of service at the reservation’s
elementary school and in the school’s administrative offices.
Twelve of these students received the Presidential
Student Service Award – as they had provided 100 or more service
hours within a 12 month period.
The Grinnell Fund developed resource materials
to help implement the service learning. These include: Classroom
Lessons – Helping Children to Explore the Meaning of Service;
A Reflection Guide.
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