The Service-Learning Program has been a part of U.S. higher education since 1978. Now over 570 institutions carry out the program as it has grown largely in the '90s, Doug Ladle, religion instructor and chairman of the Service-Learning Program, said.
Students participate in organized service activities that accompany their regular academic classes.
One of the program's many goals is to let the students reflect on the service project in order to gain more understanding of the course as it applies to the real world. Four hundred to 500 students are currently enrolled in the program and the numbers are expected to keep growing. One of the service-learning classes offered this semester was a social dance class where students taught sixth graders for almost two hours a day for three weeks. Another is a Book of Mormon class that assists elderly people in writing 12-15 page life histories to give to their family members. This activity is meant to reflect what Mormon experienced while writing the history of the Nephites.