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Creating a service learning program at your school or youth development organization is a lot of work, but it should also be a creative, rewarding experience. Here are some steps to make the process a little bit easier for you - and for the young people you work with.
Explore your community, involve the young people who will be providing the service:
- Contact organizations to inquire if they can provide group projects and if they accept youth volunteers.
- Each organization is different - with different procedures, training, supervision and mission. Find an organization with a good balance between support for volunteers and flexibility in creating new projects.
- Be clear about the goals for the young people with regards to learning and personal development.
- Get student input, seek student ownership and leadership of the program.
- Develop basic goals and guidelines for your program.
- Identify the issues in which youth and teachers/adult leaders are interested.
- Learn which community organizations are addressing these issues.
Include community organizations in the planning process:
- Plan far enough ahead to let community organizations participate - usually a minimum of four weeks.
- Obtain the agency's "buy-in" and belief in your program.
- Be clear about your expectations and realistic about your resources. A Student Volunteer Contract (Volunteering: Resources for Educators: Service learning: Planning Together: Student Volunteer Contract page) will help.
- Community organizations can provide valuable insight into the needs of the community.
- Invite a variety of community organizations to participate.
- Involve the organization's clients, if appropriate.
- Ask them to assist in the development or presentation of curriculum by providing guest speakers or other services to your class or group.
Involve community agencies as partners in your program:
- Develop a service partnership. The most productive service projects are set up as a partnership between the school or youth development group and the community organization.
- Develop shared responsibility for the program (in areas such as orientation, training, project development, supervision, recognition).
- Remember the agency has the final say in the service to be provided to their clients.
- Develop a partnership that is mutually beneficial and ongoing.
- Share costs where possible.
- Identify a contact for the agency to call if there are questions.
- Maintain open and regular communication with the volunteer coordinator at the agency.
- Develop a clear plan for supervising the participants in the service learning project. This should be developed with the partner organization.
- Serve with the young people. Lead by example.
- Conduct formal reflection with the youth at the agency, back in the classroom, or both. Agency staff can be very helpful in facilitating reflection discussions.
- Celebrate when the project is over and recognize the young people's accomplishments, including agency staff whenever possible.
- Media coverage of the project is an excellent form of recognition for both the volunteers and the agency.
- Conduct an evaluation of the project with the youth, parents, agency staff, clients, etc. Share the results with the agency volunteer coordinator.
- Recognize the community organization's efforts through thank you notes, letters of commendation to the executive director, newsletter article, etc.
- If your project was successful, plan another one! Don't forget to stay connected to the organizations you work with.
- Survive failure by learning from it. Treat all your efforts as experiments.
Most of all - don't forget to have fun!
- Volunteer Center serving San Francisco and San Mateo Counties
- Other community organizations
- United Way or community resource directories
- Newspapers and other media
- Colleges and universities; professors
- Government agencies (e.g. Recreation & Park Department or Police Department)
- Libraries
- Phone book
- Internet
- Youth, parents, or teachers
- Your friends and personal network
- Walking around the neighborhood
- Your own creative means!
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