Civic Engagement
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PSL was carefully designed to help students practice civic engagement by working for justice, becoming advocates, and affecting change. These experiences consider how students learn, how they think, the nature of experience, and how to educate for active participation in democratic life.
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The learning targets for this unit are:
What needs exist in our community?
What needs exist in our community?
- Engage in activities that meet community needs. (PSL.CS.3)
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English when writing and/or speaking. (L.11-12.1/2)
Making the Most of Rich Community Resources
In her PSL blog Sarah wrote, “Yesterday at the shelter was…crazy, for lack of a better word.” The day before Sarah learned that Jerry, a homeless man she had come to know at the Salvation Army’s Homeless program, had died. He had drowned the previous day in the river near the camp that he called home. Jerry’s death caused Sarah to reflect on her own life and fortunes:
"Every day after I go there, I get in the car and think ‘Wow…the homeless people can’t do this.’ And then I go home and get food out of the fridge and think ‘Wow…they can’t do this.’ [Every] simple little thing I do now I think about them and what they’re doing…keeping up with the basic necessities of life: Food, Shelter, Clothing.”
Reflections like Sarah’s are an integral part of the PSL class. As students engage in the curriculum, serve their community agencies, and reflect on the relationship between their academic learning and their experiences they begin to understand the role that they as individuals must play in order for their community to flourish.
Cleveland Foodbank, 2010
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Emeritus Assisted Living, 2009
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United Way Day of Caring, 2008
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Lake Farmpark, 2011
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Partner Agencies
PSL partners with 56 agencies in Northeast Ohio. These rich community resources provide students with learning unavailable within the school’s walls.
Schools
Students volunteer in many Perry Elementary and Middle School classrooms; at Broadmoor, a Lake County school for students with cognitive and physical challenges; with before and after school programs; and in urban neighborhood schools. The students in PSL assist typical students and students with disabilities. They serve in academic and creative arts classrooms. These high school seniors witness and try to alleviate the struggles, both academic and social, of the students with whom they work. While tutoring eighth grade boys, Joe intervened in an instance of bullying. Reflecting on the incident, he said, “A lot of adults, including me, think bullying is just part of growing up...I used to just walk by kids getting bullied and not think much of it, but now my perspective has changed…I know that I can’t be there for this kid all the time, but I hope he knows on Tuesdays and Thursdays he has at least one friend in class.” Joe learned a lesson that anti-bullying programs try but often fail to teach.
Service Agencies
PSL students also work with many of the area’s social service agencies: A.B.L.E. (Adult Basic Literacy Education), Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Forbes House Women’s Shelter, Habitat for Humanity, Project Hope for the Homeless, The Salvation Army, and United Way. Students interact with the people the agencies serve, doing any tasks that need to be done, including cooking, cleaning, office work, playing, babysitting, teaching, and, sometimes, just talking. Lisa described a gentleman from the homeless drop-in center who told her “kids had the power to change the world.” She said this man taught her that “with small actions you can easily change the world around you.”
Senior Centers and Health Care Facilities
Students in PSL volunteer at Hospice, senior centers, hospitals, and nursing homes. Students get to know the seniors in the community, helping them improve computer skills, use exercise equipment, and shop. In addition, PSL established its own agency, Seniors Helping Seniors (SHS), whose members go out into the community to assist senior citizens in their homes. SHS students wash windows, walk dogs, vacuum, do small paint jobs, and assist Perry senior citizens in other jobs. As Jeanne, a member of SHS, reflected, “For most of the seniors, there is a health issue or a feeling of loneliness...holding them back from doing everyday jobs. As a young and healthy teenager, I feel as if it is ...our job as young adults to help serve the elderly in our community, giving them a friend and a helping hand.”
Schools
Students volunteer in many Perry Elementary and Middle School classrooms; at Broadmoor, a Lake County school for students with cognitive and physical challenges; with before and after school programs; and in urban neighborhood schools. The students in PSL assist typical students and students with disabilities. They serve in academic and creative arts classrooms. These high school seniors witness and try to alleviate the struggles, both academic and social, of the students with whom they work. While tutoring eighth grade boys, Joe intervened in an instance of bullying. Reflecting on the incident, he said, “A lot of adults, including me, think bullying is just part of growing up...I used to just walk by kids getting bullied and not think much of it, but now my perspective has changed…I know that I can’t be there for this kid all the time, but I hope he knows on Tuesdays and Thursdays he has at least one friend in class.” Joe learned a lesson that anti-bullying programs try but often fail to teach.
Service Agencies
PSL students also work with many of the area’s social service agencies: A.B.L.E. (Adult Basic Literacy Education), Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Forbes House Women’s Shelter, Habitat for Humanity, Project Hope for the Homeless, The Salvation Army, and United Way. Students interact with the people the agencies serve, doing any tasks that need to be done, including cooking, cleaning, office work, playing, babysitting, teaching, and, sometimes, just talking. Lisa described a gentleman from the homeless drop-in center who told her “kids had the power to change the world.” She said this man taught her that “with small actions you can easily change the world around you.”
Senior Centers and Health Care Facilities
Students in PSL volunteer at Hospice, senior centers, hospitals, and nursing homes. Students get to know the seniors in the community, helping them improve computer skills, use exercise equipment, and shop. In addition, PSL established its own agency, Seniors Helping Seniors (SHS), whose members go out into the community to assist senior citizens in their homes. SHS students wash windows, walk dogs, vacuum, do small paint jobs, and assist Perry senior citizens in other jobs. As Jeanne, a member of SHS, reflected, “For most of the seniors, there is a health issue or a feeling of loneliness...holding them back from doing everyday jobs. As a young and healthy teenager, I feel as if it is ...our job as young adults to help serve the elderly in our community, giving them a friend and a helping hand.”
Reaching Beyond the Local Community
Cambden, NJ (2007)
As important as it is to bring our community together for advocacy and awareness, it is also important PSL students immerse themselves in other communities. PSL students participate in service trips, called plunges, which have taken them to Camden, New Jersey; Mobile, Alabama; Parsons, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; and Chicago, Illinois. In the words of Brad, a student explaining the term plunge, “There’s no easing into it, it’s a headfirst dive into a world so different than we’ve ever known...What we saw, and what we were told, made me understand the effects of poverty and homelessness.”
