Service Learning Project

Service - The action of helping or doing work for someone.

Service Learning - When students work on a project together for their community or communities far away.

This year Goodrich School is focusing on Service Learning. The sixth grade students participated in their first project of the year Wednesday. They teamed up with the Woodridge Park District to clean up two Woodridge Parks (63rd Street Park and the Splash Pad Park). Bundled up in their winter clothes, the students were armed with gloves and trash bags to do their best cleaning of the parks. 

There are many reasons Service Learning is good for kids of all age levels.

*They develop a richer perspective on the world they live in. The kids can see that they make an impact.

*Service Learning connects what we are doing academically to the real world. We are connecting the park clean-up project to the third trimester Science topic of Earth and Human Activity: Conserving Resources. Because of the connection, students are more interested in the academics and perform better.

*They are becoming "well-rounded" students. Colleges are not only asking for GPA's anymore. Instead they are looking for the "well-rounded" student...a student that not only does well in school, but gives back to the community. As teachers, our job is much bigger than raising test scores. We have to help build that "well-rounded" student.

What I like about Service Learning is that the whole process from beginning to end is a great learning experience for students. So many skills are developed...empathy, leadership, problem solving, collaborating, and communication are just a few.

Students are becoming active members of their community. They understand they are important to the community they live in. Our hope is that through these projects students will want to give back, not only now, but for years to come.