HOW MEMBERS OF CONGRESS CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT SERVICE-LEARNING

Making quality service-learning opportunities available to youth in every K-12 classroom across the country is greatly dependent upon the willingness of civic leaders and policymakers to help the community understand how service-learning can enhance educational experiences for youth. Parents, students, teachers and community members who are familiar with service-learning and its benefits can be excellent resources. For more information on the suggestions below, call the Learning In Deed hotline at 202-778-1040.

Following are 10 suggestions for Members of Congress who want to learn more about service-learning and its benefits:

1. Contact service-learning officials in your state to determine where service-learning is happening. Go to service-learning state contacts.
2. Visit service-learning programs in your schools whenever possible.
3. Provide students and teachers with a service-learning opportunity in your local office or working on an issue important to your constituency.
4. Bring educators together with people in your communities who can help develop local service-learning opportunities.
5. Write an opinion article or guest column, or participate on a radio show highlighting a specific service-learning program in your state or district, and quoting teachers and students.
6. Arrange for a group of students to appear on a local television or radio show with you to talk about their experiences.
7. Work with the school districts and/or the state to provide information on model programs to schools throughout the state or district.
8. Host a forum on service-learning, bringing your local educators together with state and federal education officials or representatives of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, who can put on seminars and share model programs.
9. Invite colleagues to visit a model program in your district or state as a way to help them learn more about quality service-learning.
10. Mention service-learning in speeches you give about education, youth and other relevant topics. For information on the impacts of service-learning, go to Learning In Deed's Research Synthesis.

For additional information on service-learning, click here: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.