By Heather Smith

MIDDLE SCHOOL youth have a penchant for fairness and equality, which can incite frustrating discussions amongst themselves and teachers. However, it is this same heightened sense of justice which, when channeled, can change the world!  

Seeing the disparity between rich and poor, walking amidst orphans, drug addicts and the homeless, and observing the ravages of hunger can draw a teenager out of an egocentric existence, and awaken the desire to make a difference.  

Extending oneself to others is built into the curriculum at MEI.  From kindergarten to graduation, students are provided with opportunities to love and to serve others – within our schools, our community and the world at large.  

‘Service learning’ is a focus at MEI Middle School level.  Service learning extends beyond community service. Community service involves acts of compassion or service that are necessarily linked back to the classroom. Service Learning author J. Schine indicates that this approach includes the additional key components of preparation and reflection.

K.R. Pyle defines service learning as a field of experience which combines community service with specific learning objectives. D. Sawyer further elaborates, stating that service learning is a powerful educational experience, where interest collides with information, values are formed and action emerges. The learning part has two dimensions: an inner dimension, learning about yourself, your motivation, your values; and an outer dimension, learning about the world, its ways and the underlying cause of the problems which service work addresses.

Every student in grade 7 at MEI Middle School participates in a Service class. Students go into our community and serve in a variety of locations. From bagging groceries, to caring for children and the elderly, to interacting with the homeless at the Salvation Army, students are engaged in caring for and helping others.  

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These service opportunities are integrated with in-class instruction and reflection. Students journal about their experiences – and service emerges as a way of life.  

As students move through middle school, they are invited to contribute to global projects: preparing health kits for Third World countries; raising funds to send Ukrainian orphans to camp; providing food and school supplies to African orphans; building a house for a Mexican family.  

This passion for outreach extends into their secondary school years, as students then have the opportunity to serve in various countries over spring break, and to interact directly with the people they’ve been helping.

Without a doubt, service learning takes education to a new level. Allowing a heart response to human need and hurt clearly changes lives.  

There is no way to evoke this depth of response in a classroom. It is the experience, the response and the reflection which elicits life-long learning and character development.

Heather Smith is principal of MEI Middle School, Abbotsford.

SOURCES:

• Schine, J. (1996). Service learning: a promising strategy for connecting students to communities. The Middle School Journal, 28 (2), 3-9.

• Pyle, K. R. (1981). International cross-cultural service learning: Impact on student development. Journal of College Student Personnel, 22 (6). 509-514. (ERIC Document Reproduction service No. EJ253562).  

• Sawyer, D. (1995). In W. Kinsely & K. McPherson (Eds.). Service learning. Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.  

February 2008