In the first year, Center staff will work with area teachers and community groups to develop a proposal to use the initial grant in a pilot. Students will collaborate with one another. Teachers will collaborate with colleagues and with community agencies. The two school districts will collaborate. There are several types of service projects suitable for the social studies curriculum.
Direct service involves working with others in the school or community.
Students may work with senior citizens, younger children, individuals who are learning English as a second language, people with disabilities, people living in poverty, or public officials who administer community programs. Indirect service activities are fund-raisers or collection programs that generate money or resources that can be contributed to an organization working on a community problem. Advocacy service gives students opportunities to share what they have learned with others in the community, to work for community improvement through social and political channels, and to learn a variety of methods for public communication. Advocacy activities include creating public displays, writing editorials, making public service announcements, lobbying public officials, speaking at public meetings, setting up a public hearing, writing a grant, circulating a petition, and so on. Curriculum integration is what distinguishes a valuable service-learning project from useful community service activity.