Awards


2010 Community Service Award

CSEE’s 2010 Community Service Recognition Program focused on the theme of empowering students. Well documented research shows that the more students are empowered to design, implement, and evaluate their community service initiatives, the more these students grow as ethically concerned citizens for tomorrow’s world.

First Place
La Jolla Country Day School

Ojai, CA
Chris Schuck, Head of School
Susan Nordenger, Community Service Coordinator

At La Jolla Country Day School, the service program seems to have student empowerment as its very life blood. Every service project from fifth through twelfth grade is student lead and student driven.  Indeed, according to the school, “every community service initiative hinges on the interests, concerns and passions of the kids.” The focus is not just on service, but on leadership development.

In the middle school, eight 8th-grade student leaders are elected to oversee the 5th-7th grade student council. It is this Middle School Advisory Council that is responsible for the community service program in the middle school. This is valuable early experience for the greater responsibilities students will have in the upper grades. On occasion, upper school leaders even work with the Council for the purpose of making the whole school program as seamless as possible.

La Jolla Country Day’s upper school service program is directed by a 42 member Community Service Board (CSB) made up of tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade students who apply to be board members. It is these student leaders who create and implement all projects. The CSB students, according to Community Service Coordinator Susan Nordenger, “are creative, self motivated and internally driven to help lead our school community in their understanding of global issues, social responsibility and justice.”

One student leader, with an assistant, oversees each individual project.  The assistant will be expected to lead the project the following year.  At the conclusion of every event, the assistant is responsible for making a list of what worked well, what needs improvement and what else should be considered for the following year.  Service “works” because it matters, says Nordenger. La Jolla Country Day has done what it can to integrate service into every aspect of school life.

Runner Up
North Shore Country Day School

Winnetka, IL
Tom Doar, Head of School
Drea Gallaga, Community Service Coordinator

North Shore Country Day’s motto is “Live and Serve,” and it is clear that this ethos is in practice at every grade level. To make each service learning opportunity meaningful, the students are given control over selecting and planning the projects, and learning about the issues at hand.

In the Lower School, most service projects come out of the grade level, and it is typically student ideas that generate each project. For example, the Kindergarten class brainstormed and designed a pumpkin bake sale that turned their curricular study about pumpkins into a fundraiser for Heifer International.

In the Middle School, students perform service in classes, in advisory groups, and through their student council. It is the student council that takes the reins and organizes non-curricular service projects and, impressively, they have also raised money to create budgets for their classes’ service learning projects.

Students are asked to take on even more responsibility in the Upper School. Community Service Coordinator Drea Gallaga describes the process: “In setting the year’s schedule, the students brainstorm potential organizations and projects, assign research tasks, report back to the group, vet the information, and agree on a roster of projects. Once they have finalized a list, they contact organizations, procure materials, negotiate assembly or advisory time if necessary, create publicity, and lead the other students.”  Ms. Gallaga notes that her job is simply to support students through this process and - to empower the students further - she does not intervene, even when mistakes are made.

In culmination of their years of service learning at North Shore Country Day, each senior is required to complete a self-planned Senior Service Project. This project takes place during the final two weeks of the school year, and the students must devote at least sixty hours of service to a non-profit organization. Thorough this opportunity, students get to pursue an individual topic of interest, build a relationship with a local organization, and be ambassadors for their school.

Honorable Mention
National Presbyterian School

Washington, DC
James T. Neill, Head of School
Dale Glass & Laura Krentel, Community Service Coordinators

Through their “Learning in Deed” program, National Presbyterian School does a terrific job of creating age-appropriate leadership opportunities for their Kindergarten through 6th grade students. The new program is student-centered, giving kids the opportunity to brainstorm ideas, research options, and generate action plans for projects - which are related to their curriculum, a community need, or a special interest.

National Presbyterian Students have taken the lead and created wonderful projects. For example, Kindergarten students initiated a project called “Happy in the Hospital” out of concern for a sick classmate who was hospitalized. They chose books to donate and created artwork to make the hospital cheerful. In the sixth grade, students decided to help a foreign community with funds traditionally raised for a class gift. Sixth grade students researched and decided on the non-profit organization they would give to, Heifer International, then made educated decisions on the type of gift to give. In planning the fundraising event - a pizza night at a local restaurant - they split into different committees and came up with ideas to market the event. When the students raised more money then they had aimed for, they were faced with the decision to put the extra money toward a class gift, or to donate it all to Heifer. The students chose to donate it all.

Honorable Mention
St. John’s School

Houston, TX
Dr. James Hedrix, Head of School
Marci Oesch Bahr, Community Service Coordinator

Community service at St. John’s School is voluntary, but 92% of the Upper School student body participates. Perhaps this is because service is such an integral part of the St. John’s community. The projects start in the lower school, with a strong educational component to teach the young students about the needs of the group they are serving and to understand the value that they provide. Middle School students are challenged to be hands-on, and to make a difference through their physical presence and efforts, instead of collections.

In the Upper School, students apply for a Student Officer Board: a group of 15 students charged with meeting weekly to discuss and plan upcoming community service projects. In addition to the board, all interested students are able to volunteer for existing project leadership positions, or to create, plan and implement a brand new project. These projects are funded by grants raised by the volunteer-run snack bar, which generates approximately $60,000 annually. Last year, 21 grants were fully funded.