Service+Learning

Service learning is a teaching method where guided or classroom learning is applied through action that addresses an authentic community need in a process that allows fro youth initiative and provides structured time for reflection on the service experience and demonstration of acquired skills and knowledge (Cathy Berger Kaye)   **School Goal**  **Every student each year will participate in meaningful service learning activities. **
 * Projects in the Past: **

In **Pre-K**, students learned about the life cycle and nutritional value of apples. In class, they investigated how apples are grown and demonstrated their knowledge and skills making apple cider and apple pie. The students offered their products to ASW security guards to express appreciation for all the hard work the guards perform every day.

The **Kindergarten** studied the meaning of the family and its complexities. They discovered that some families face poverty issues and decided to "adopt" a needy family for Christmas.

The **2nd** **grade** plant unit aimed to increase students’ understanding of plants and their value to our society. While learning how plants are important for the people and the environment, the second graders decided to take action to beautify their own school campus by planting flowers.

After the huge earthquake caused the devastation in Haiti, the children in that country lost their families, homes and schools. ASW students and parents raised money to support Haitian people. The students from **2nd and 3rd grades** wrote books that were sent to Haiti to equip the Street Libraries. All ES students had an opportunity to write letters to their peers.

The Hearts for Hospice project was initiated by **3rd grade** students. They read poems to ES students and collected money to support Warsaw Children Hospice.

I n **4th** **grade**, the students partnered with one of our “key partnership” sites, the refugee center in Linin. During their study on immigration, students interviewed immigrants, studied patterns of immigration, designed and answered questions on why people immigrate. ASW students interacted with the refugees, learnt from them and developed relationships with them to ease their transition to Poland.

In **5th grade**, the students investigated various global issues. The Pennies for Peace activity incorporated service learning directly into the study of the history and geography focusing on Pakistan. The fund-raising activities connected to this project evolved from the reading of the book __Three Cups of Tea__, as part of their curriculum. The proceeds from the car wash, popcorn sale and bake sale supported Greg Mortenson's foundation aiming to build and maintain schools in Pakistan.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">**5th grade** students also learned about the concept of Fair Trade which galvanized them to write local and global confectionary companies urging them to employ fair trade practices. The Cadbury Company responded to the students acknowledging their arguments. Students put on plays and raised the awareness of the community of why purchasing fair trade products prevents exploitation of workers and children.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The E-waste issue has been another part of service learning in **5th grade**. Based on their research on the mining of the rare metal “coltan” used in the manufacture of electronic products, the fifth graders learned that child labor is often used, exploited and forced into other nefarious activities. They developed a campaign for the school and the community to recycle cell phones which they donated to the organization supporting the school for blind children in Warsaw.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">While studying about the legacy of Ancient Greek city-states, **the 6th grade** students discovered the importance of the Olympic Games to the ancient Greeks. To revive the Olympic Games in modern times in Warsaw, the students invited a group of children from STOCER, Zespol Szkol Specjalnych w Centrum Rehabilitacji to participate in Special Olympics.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The **7th grade** Science class has not only established a relationship with the Warsaw Botanical Gardens, where they learn about organic farming techniques and issues but also prepared short presentations to the 2nd grade students promoting composting in our school.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 7**th grade**, each Advisory group, was challenged to select a topic, an issue they wanted to investigate deeper, support, rally around and develop service learning activities. They chose animals as their topic and after first learning about the plight of abandoned animals in this urban environment, they designed service projects in support of local animal shelters. While visiting the shelter, the students painted the facilities, groomed the dogs and took them for a walk. They also donated 6 dog houses, dog's food and blankets.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the **<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8th grade **<span style="color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> annual Living History project students invite the WW II survivors to share their experiences about the war. The students interview their guests and post what they learnt on the website for all ASW community.