Service-learning has huge potential to help students learn and demonstrate the knowledge and skills required by the state s Learning Results , Maine Department of Education Commissioner Duke Albanese commented. Maine s service-learning approach, developed by the KIDS Consortium, starts when students identify a real community need they want to address.
Students develop and implement an action plan, engaging adults from the community as they do.
Service-learning shows students that they can make a difference individually and collectively, and that they need the academics they re learning in school to do it, the Maine Commissioner said. By tapping into the capabilities and contributions young people have to offer, we are building leaders for today and tomorrow, said Christine M. Kwak, Kellogg Foundation program director for Learning In Deed. We already know that service-learning experiences help young people in a variety of ways. As citizens, it gives them an increased sense of civic responsibility and a commitment to community involvement. As students it helps improve school performance and academic engagement.