Ten years ago, a social justice student organization at North Junior High School began a service learning day with the simple mission to engage kids in their surrounding community. Social studies teacher Mike Gritman helped organize the initial event, and has seen it evolve over time into a committed school-wide effort.
“It started out as [just] volunteering,” Gritman recalls, “but it has evolved into more service learning. Kids are learning background information about the issues and then planning follow-up projects.”
This year’s service learning day focused on issues including homelessness, hunger and poverty.
“We had a group of student leaders (about 80) that taught or led groups through a number of issues,” Gritman said. “All 900 students in our building were involved in the day. Half of their day was ‘in building’ learning about different issues, and then the other half of the day was spent ‘out of building’ doing service projects around the community. Outside community people [also] presented to a number of our students about area issues.”
North’s annual Service Learning Day efforts receive support from partnering organizations such as the local Center for Service Learning and Social Change and the international organization, Free the Children. (A parent organization of We Day.) This year, these partners enabled students to execute a follow-up activity to their service learning day, a homelessness awareness lock-in which also included We-Act students from Apollo High School.
North Social Studies teacher Angela Mitchell led reflective, myth-busting activities at the lock-in, and students later “channeled compassion into action” by packing donated food items into backpacks to be distributed to North students in need, while other participants made blankets.
Making a difference clearly empowers students, and Gritman reports, “We have had overwhelming positive responses from students, staff and parents.”
Through Service Learning Day and beyond, North Junior High students take action to be the change they want to see in the world.