Service Learning: Is It Really Working?

Once a month, you sit in a classroom with your service-learning group. You probably discuss ideas, talk about fundraising, and try to make a difference for whatever cause you are working on. Has your group accomplished any goals you have set forth?

One of the main goals of CHS is to promote citizenship. One way we do this is our service learning requirements. Every student in Constitution High School is in a service-learning group and required to serve fifteen hours in their group. The idea of these groups is that each student can make a difference. However, this has not always been the case. We all have certain goals we would like to accomplish, but have we met them? Is service learning working?

Some students at Constitution High School work really hard with their service learning groups. They get things done and earn their hours. They feel good about what they are doing. However, some students feel as if nothing is getting accomplished. Some people say that members of their group do not even want to be there, or they see it as a free period. Jillian McDonnell, a sophomore, said, “I feel as though some students would rather be somewhere else. That’s fine, but they shouldn’t waste their time and their group’s time by being there. They should join the group that they will be most help to.” Tabitha Brown, a tenth grade student, said, “It seems like everything falls on the group leader. Other students never want to do anything, they never get involved. I think they don’t care too much about the group they are in.”

There are still other problems, like one anonymous junior pointed out. “Where’s the money from the bake sale going? We see the progress, but no end result.” People see a lot of good ideas, but sometimes, with the lack of resources or time, goals seem to get lost in the midst of everything else.

So what’s the verdict? What has been accomplished? During a discussion at lunch, I had a few ideas thrown at me for improvements on service learning. The one I heard the most was more meetings. Jillian McDonnell said, “ I think we should meet more often. When we meet once a month, students forget what they still have to do.”