When both groups are in concert, there is no limit to the possibilities that might emerge in a school-based community service program. Harold Hodgkinson, nationally known demographer, has clearly pictured the U.S. population 30 years from now, when the baby boomers have become the aged population and there is only a small work force to provide services for the geriatric majority. Without new resources, this will simply not be enough to provide for the country's needs. Education in the twenty-first century must include community service as part of its mission to meet the needs of society. School organizations must move away from a limiting structure and restrictive building to learning and serving in the community.
School based community service programs offer the best means for such a grandiose scheme.
This need not mean course credit, but it must mean some type of value obtained that is measurable for the student. Working with the poor and homeless in urban areas, and working with the ambulance corps in rural areas are examples of the kinds of services such programs could bring to the community. Learning in such a situation is increased by feedback and reflection. Student journals, readings, and curricula that integrate community service and formal training are vital to a successful community service program. Also, students must apply the subject matter embodied in the project in their daily lives.