Part 2 in a series looking at how classroom experiences are enhanced through Clark-ston Community Schools? Academic Learn and Serve program

Some might say Renee Weaver-Wright did a bit of service learning of her own when she brought powerful new program to Clarkston Community Schools in 2003.
A parent with three kids in the district, Weaver-Wright was tackling ‘Current Issues in Education?’coursework for her Master’s degree’when she heard about funds available through the Michigan Community Service Commission’s Learn and Serve Grant.
Details in hand, she approached school administrators; it would be her first-ever attempt at grant writing, but she was willing to make the formal request for funds.
‘Lo and behold we got it,? said Weaver-Wright, who manages a tutoring business providing supplemental education services to students in schools across the country. ‘It’s been a wonderful program.?
Now in its fifth year, Clarkston’s Academic Service Learning program (ASL) gives teachers the opportunity to connect students to the wider community by fulfilling a real need, thus making curriculum material more meaningful to young learners.
‘The number of students touched last year was amazing,? said Weaver-Wright. ‘And it’s not just the best and brightest, or the kids on the other end; it’s kids all across the board, all different kinds of students have been involved in so many different projects.?
After the program’s inception, Weaver-Wright stayed on to coordinate ASL through its infancy, but soon realized it was growing large enough to need a school-based leader at the helm.
The choice seemed easy.
‘Sue Wilson latched right on at very first training session we had,? she said. ‘She was a wonderful person to take the project on; she’s just amazing, the job she’s done with it and the enthusiasm and the spark she’s lit under so many other people.?
And for good reason; Wilson says service learning is a concept she believes in.
In the 2007-2008 school year alone, 143 Clarkston teachers collaborated on ASL projects involving 4,196 students’more than half the district’s current population.
Last year, for example, third graders at Springfield Plains Elementary provided ‘rainy day? games for SCAMP kids; eighth and ninth graders at Clarkston Junior High worked on a website and recording fundraiser for Braille Beats Lapeer Fine Arts Camp for blind teens; and fifth graders at Clarkston Elementary planned and created gardens to revitalize the school’s entrance.
‘We have a lot of passionate teachers in our district that really love to help the community,? said Wilson, a language arts teacher at Sashabaw Middle School who gets one class period each day in her role as the district’s Learn and Serve Grant coordinator.
‘This adds that academic piece to it.?
Grant requirements mandate a curriculum connection, and teachers must provide a written proposal detailing how the project ties into classroom learning.
The SCAMP project was connected tomaterial third graders were learning in social studies and technology, while the Braille Beats project tied into chorus and band classes, and the new gardens at Clarkston Elementary brought language arts, math and social studies into the mix.
‘We try to make it as teacher-friendly as we can,? Wilson said. ‘When we promote the program we tell teachers it’s not an add-on to what they’re already doing’because we are busy people’but an add-in, where they take what they’re already doing in their curriculum and add that service component.?
It’s also important, she said, that each project be meaningful to both the student and the community, and each must allow reflection, evaluation and assessment.
Particularly important, Wilson noted, is ‘student voice.?
‘If they’re not engaged and involved, it’s going to be difficult to talk a kid into the project,? she said.
But it’s not just students getting involved. Over 1,100 adult volunteers worked with students and teachers last year, and more than 50 community businesses and non-profit organizations partnered with the district to implement projects.
Grace Centers of Hope, Haven, STAR E.M.S., American Red Cross, and Independence Township Senior Center are just a few.
Currently, Sashabaw Middle School kids are working on 1,200 Christmas stockings for distribution to Lighthouse North and Lighthouse in Pontiac.
Next in the series: We’ll take a look at the impact of ASL on the community, and talk to Deputy Superintendent Dave Reschke about a recent trip to Washington D.C., where he spoke with national leaders about service learning in Michigan’s K-12 population.