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Volume 11, Number 1 2000/2001   Author: Paula W. Roy a teacher at Phillips Middle School in Phillips, Maine. Paula is a MAMLE Exemplary Practice winner for 2000.       "Where once opportunities for community service had to be pointed out to them, students now take it upon themselves to identify needs and carry out plans to meet them."

Let the Middle Lead! Service-Learning in Action at Phillips Middle School Last spring, our small rural school in the western mountains of Maine was recognized as a National Service-Learning Leader School. The first middle school in the state to receive this award, Phillips Middle School is one of only thirty-four middle schools in the entire United States to be selected as exemplars in service-learning. Service-learning was defined by the KIDS Consortium in 1996 as "a method of teaching and learning that challenges students to identify, research, propose and implement solutions to real problems in their own schools and communities as part of mathematics, science, social studies and other disciplines." At Phillips Middle School, the Student Council/student government program, an established part of the social studies curriculum, is the vehicle being used to develop this concept. Here, students take a personal approach to learning about democracy. They operate a government much like that of our United States. The three classes of sixth, seventh and eighth graders are representative of the separate states in our Union. The governing of the classes by the Student Council is similar in nature to the governing of the states by the federal government. This year the fifth grade entered the program and is being treated like a territory not quite ready for "statehood." This real-life practice of government of the students, for the students and by the students introduces them to the democratic process and teaches them to become active, well-informed citizens when they take their places as adults in their communities. One hundred percent of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade students, faculty, staff, and administrators participate in this service learning project. Of the seventy-two middle level students, forty hold elected or appointed office. All others participate as voting members of their classes, taking part in monthly class meetings or weekly council meetings during which they make decisions about service-learning, community service, fund raising, class adventures, and various other projects. The meetings are entirely student-led following the town meeting format. Adults fill the roles of facilitators and advisors. The Student Council of the Phillips Middle School was established by Constitution more than a decade ago. Over the years, the students have grown more and more confident of their leadership skills and are becoming more skilled in governing themselves. At the same time, having become more aware of their roles as citizens of their community, they have also begun to notice on their own certain needs in their local world, many of which they know they can do something about. Where once opportunities for community service had to be pointed out to them, students now take it upon themselves to identify needs and carry out plans to meet them. This is the point at which community service transforms into service-learning. Teachers also began to recognize how the students' role as responsible and involved citizens could benefit classroom learning. An added bonus for them is that the service-learning projects devised by the students help teachers meet the State of Maine Learning Results. Every one of the guiding principles, "the building blocks for successful and fulfilled adulthood in the 21st century," is met. Depending on the service-learning project chosen by the students, more specific indicators in various content areas are also being achieved. At Phillips Middle School, service learning has strengthened the students' awareness of their place as active members of their community. They have learned that as informed citizens their voices will be heard by others. They know they can make an impact not only on their school, but in their town as well. They are becoming confident and skilled at presenting themselves and their ideas to their peers and to higher authorities such as administrative teams, local organizations, and school boards. They believe this school belongs to them and that is their right and their duty to assist in making it successful. In return, teachers, parents, and other townspeople have realized the importance of the students' contributions to school and community. Phillips students worked with teachers and parents to write a family-school compact. They are models for the other student councils in the district. They serve on school committees such as the one that rewrote the Phillips Middle School handbook a couple of years ago. Representatives from the middle school sit on the subcommittee of the newly established youth center in town. They are planning an event for next year that will help educate fellow students, teachers, parents, and others on the topic of tolerance. Though service-learning and student government are synonymous at the Phillips Middle School, Student Council is only one way to implement this concept. Some schools have service-learning coordinators and/or a mandatory service requirement. Others have targeted specific content areas as the theatre for introducing students to the learn and serve model. Service-learning enhances the lives of everyone involved. By becoming effective communicators and responsible citizens, students gain confidence in themselves and earn the respect of the scholastic and civic communities. When students realize their ideas are valued, teachers discover more positively motivated classes. Teaching and learning becomes a two way street. It isn't only the teachers that teach or the students that learn. Every member of the community may benefit from the others. Service-learning fosters an environment of cooperation, shared decision making, and mutual respect. Finally, the target population of a project receives a service that meets a need. The softball team gets new benches in their dugouts. Students and teachers at the middle school are given "agenda books" that help them set priorities, plan, and organize. People of all ages join together to learn more about diversity and tolerance. The Phillips Middle School community challenges every middle school in Maine to consider the opportunities available through a service-learning program. There are several resources and contact people who can help you get started. Check out the National Service-Learning website at www.nationalservice.org. Contact Ed Maroon, Maine's Service-Learning Director, at ed.maroon@state.me.us. Contact us at Phillips Middle School. But, most importantly, take that first step and let your middle lead! It all started when our council received an invitation to the Auburn Middle School's Conference on Tolerance last year. Our council decided this was something we should attend. We were selected to represent our school because we were a sixth grader and a seventh grader and would be here again this year to plan something for our classmates. After being at the conference, we realized that there is a whole bunch of stuff like we talked about there going on in our own school. We want to plan our own conference to help our school and community learn to respect each other even though we are all different. We think this will encourage a more respectful and cheerful environment. This is the biggest service-learning project we have tried yet. We are starting with a mini-conference at our Second Annual SAD #58 Student Council Summit because we hope the other schools in our district will want to do something like this, too. The name of our conference is "Don't Judge a Book by It's Cover." It will include some of the activities we learned in Auburn and other conferences that our council has gone to. After that, we will plan a bigger conference at our own school for grades 5 - 8. We want to add our community, too. Hopefully,we will be able to plan something for the younger grades, too. Our school needs us as much as we need our school. It's fun to come in the morning and have the little kids come up to us and say things like "you're a good student council person" or "thanks for helping us do the flag salute." People from students to adults have come to depend on us to keep them involved in what's going on. Instead of just keeping them involved, we try to teach them things and make it fun, too. Briana Wilkins Jocelyn Plog   As a teacher and parent I have seen many positive aspects of Student Council. It brings the school together with spirited activities from election week to winter carnival. It encourages teacher-student interaction. Students learn how to become involved citizens and how their involvement can create change. As a senator and now president of Student Council, my son is learning valuable, life long skills in leadership, public speaking, networking and organization. He has gained so much confidence in himself as a direct result of being in Student Council. Bonnie Kinney Special Ed. Teacher Back to Top