PSL History
Winton Place Youth Center, 2005
In 2004, a group of Perry High School teachers and administrators collaborated to create a new service learning course. With guidance from the Mayerson High School Service Learning Program and the North Olmsted High School SITES program, a course was designed which sought to increase students’ awareness of community needs and existing organizations working to meet those needs.
The result was Perry Service Learning (PSL), an interdisciplinary elective for seniors that combined English and Social Studies curricula with meaningful hands-on service at a community agency. Unlike traditional community service programs and service clubs that focus on charitable acts to address problems, PSL strives to help students develop democratic values by working for justice, becoming advocates, and affecting change. The course was carefully designed based on how students learn, how they think, the nature of experience, and how to educate for active participation in democratic life.
Students meet three days a week in a face-to-face setting to explore units on poverty, education reform, immigration, environmental issues, and special education. The other two days, students are required to volunteer 2-4 hours per week with a community agency that will provide them with real world experiences that relate to the topics studied in class. Herein lies one of the strengths of the course. On any given day, teachers have a panel of “experts” in the room who share insights on the topics being discussed based on their volunteer experiences.
Ultimately, the language arts and social issues curricula combined with meaningful service provides students with the tools they need to become responsible citizens. They recognize the needs of their community and can identify the assets that exist to address those needs. Moreover, students understand that citizens in a democracy must be active and informed or the democracy may cease to exist. As one PSL alumnus put it, “Service is absolutely 100% NOT about generosity. It’s not about charity. Service is about responsibility and while I know I have so much more to learn, I’m so glad that I’m beginning to understand that.”
Each year, PSL students provide 10,000 hours of service to community organizations. Although the hours served are impressive, one of the mantras of the class is that “it’s not about the hours, but the people you meet along the way.” In the process of serving people whose realities are often different from their own, PSL students are often motivated to work for justice in their school, town, and region in order to build a community that is more caring, tolerant, and accepting of others.
The result was Perry Service Learning (PSL), an interdisciplinary elective for seniors that combined English and Social Studies curricula with meaningful hands-on service at a community agency. Unlike traditional community service programs and service clubs that focus on charitable acts to address problems, PSL strives to help students develop democratic values by working for justice, becoming advocates, and affecting change. The course was carefully designed based on how students learn, how they think, the nature of experience, and how to educate for active participation in democratic life.
Students meet three days a week in a face-to-face setting to explore units on poverty, education reform, immigration, environmental issues, and special education. The other two days, students are required to volunteer 2-4 hours per week with a community agency that will provide them with real world experiences that relate to the topics studied in class. Herein lies one of the strengths of the course. On any given day, teachers have a panel of “experts” in the room who share insights on the topics being discussed based on their volunteer experiences.
Ultimately, the language arts and social issues curricula combined with meaningful service provides students with the tools they need to become responsible citizens. They recognize the needs of their community and can identify the assets that exist to address those needs. Moreover, students understand that citizens in a democracy must be active and informed or the democracy may cease to exist. As one PSL alumnus put it, “Service is absolutely 100% NOT about generosity. It’s not about charity. Service is about responsibility and while I know I have so much more to learn, I’m so glad that I’m beginning to understand that.”
Each year, PSL students provide 10,000 hours of service to community organizations. Although the hours served are impressive, one of the mantras of the class is that “it’s not about the hours, but the people you meet along the way.” In the process of serving people whose realities are often different from their own, PSL students are often motivated to work for justice in their school, town, and region in order to build a community that is more caring, tolerant, and accepting of others.