Service Learning

Service-Learning Hours

Did you know that students attending Baltimore County Schools are require to complete 75  Service-Learning hours prior to graduation from high school? For students that actively participate in school, these hours will most likely accumulate within the school curriculum (known as infused hours). But students are also encouraged to earn additional, independent hours by serving in their community. While this issue comes more in to play in middle school, I thought it would be helpful to offer this information on our site.

The following is from the BCPS Department of Special Learning web site:

All service-learning experiences must include PREPARATION, ACTION, and REFLECTION

Preparation is the first step of service-learning in which students cooperate with teachers and community members to:

• Identify issues affecting the community; e.g., homelessness, environment, senior citizens
• Select project site and type of action
• Plan service-learning reflection
• Explore the concept of citizenship

Action is the next step of service-learning in which students carry out their service through one of the following:

• Direct Service–helps alleviate specific community needs through face to face contact with those being served (e.g., teaching someone to read, serving meals in a soup kitchen, visiting an elderly person)
• Indirect Service–channels resources to the problem (e.g., collecting food, recruiting tutors, raising money for a cause through activities such as a walk-a-thon or environmental clean-up)
• Advocacy–works to eliminate the causes of a problem and to inform the public about the issue (e.g., letter writing, legislative testimony or performing plays on drug prevention for younger students)

Reflection is the final step of service-learning in which students look back upon the project and review what they have learned. Reflection may be done individually (journals, scrapbooks, teacher-student meetings) or as a group (class evaluation of the project based on the goals and outcomes).

Preauthorization is required prior to performing service-learning hours. Forms are available in each school office or through the BCPS Department of Special Learning web site at http://www.bcps.org/offices/service_learning/. Be sure to view the Frequently Asked Questions section on the site for great examples of common activities that qualify.