Greenwood School Curriculum: Community Service Learning

The Greenwood School’s Community Service Learning (CSL) Program continued its dynamic growth and development in the Fall of 2006. Coming on the heels and excitement of the program’s inception in the previous spring, the boys had an opportunity to volunteer with a variety of new organizations in the local community.

On Wednesday, September 13th, during their fi rst week back at Greenwood, the boys spent an afternoon volunteering in the local community with two amazing organizations: The Brattleboro Area Hospice, and the Brattleboro Area Drop-in Center.

The six boys that went to the Brattleboro Area Hospice (www.brattleborohospice.org) volunteered their time performing much-needed yard clean up and gardening care for the Hospice’s famed Memorial Garden. The lovely volunteers that run the Hospice were very grateful that the Greenwood students and faculty were willing to help them prepare their grounds for the coming fall and winter.

The Brattleboro Area Drop-in Center (www.brattleborodropin.org) is an organization that provides a place for welcome, warmth and peace. Their services include: an emergency food shelf, job referrals, shelter from the weather and free clothing – just to name a few. The ten Greenwood boys that went to the Drop-in Center for the afternoon participated in a tour of the facility and returned from the trip excited, determined and passionate about volunteering for the center in the future.

On Saturday, September 23rd, ten Greenwood boys participated in the Windham County Humane Society’s (www.wchs4pets.org) Walk for the Animals. The boys that took part in this joyful gathering witnessed fi rst-hand the tremendous effort that is required to host a large-scale fund-raising event. They also had the opportunity to experience what it feels like to be a part of a group of people taking pride in, and supporting, their community.

From September to November, the CSL Program had the privilege and honor to volunteer, on an ongoing weekly basis, with the Brattleboro Youth Horticultural Project (BYHP). This BYHP is an innovative program that helps young people develop their life skills and job skills through agriculture. Participating youth learn what it means to work with others to produce an organically grown crop, from seeding to harvest. Then they get to market the fruits of their labor to customers at the Brattleboro Farmer’s Market.

Over the course of seven weeks, the Greenwood boys volunteered seven times for approximately an hour and half (3:45pm – 5:15pm) each time focusing on harvesting and preparing the farm for the winter. Each week, a different group of (5-8) boys traveled to the farm learning everything from proper harvesting techniques to the difference between organic and non-organic food sources. It was an excellent partnership, and the CSL Program is looking forward to continuing our relationship with the BYHP during the Spring.

The hallmark of the CSL Program is that service and learning go hand-in-hand. Too often in life for young adolescents, community service comes across as an “un-fun” obligation. This perspective on service is totally understandable because so many young people have never had the education about why giving back to your community is so important. In most cases, they have been told it is just a good thing to do – so, just do it. Service disconnected from reflection and learning is valuable, but when service and learning are strategically combined and utilized as tools for self-growth, the results can profoundly shift how people – especially young people – see themselves in the world.

The CSL Program is committed to providing a complete learning environment for the profound seed of service combined with personal
reflection to grow in the Greenwood boys. Each service opportunity has three main phases:pre-education, the service experience, reflection and wrap-up. The boys also have an opportunity to choose to participate, rather than doing so out of obligation. This is a remarkable shift in understanding because now the boys work with incredible energy and focus, as they really want to do their best to help out!

It was very encouraging to witness the boys taking ownership for the program by making suggestions for improvement and also throwing out ideas for other organizations that we could partner with in the future.

The Greenwood boys have been extremely responsive to this complete learning approach to community service. Aside from the fact that our community partners have been very grateful for our work, the best sign that what we are doing is working is that the boys can’t wait to sign up and volunteer again. It seems that community service is contagious in the Greenwood Community!