LA

The service learning aspect of the SCORES curriculum focuses the students awareness of personal education and health outwards to the community they belong to.  During the spring semester, writing coaches use the America SCORES’ Writing for the Community curriculum to help their students learn about their communities and assist them in using their voices to affect positive change.

This portion of the America SCORES program has three goals:

• Children value themselves as active members of their community.
• Teach children to use writing as a positive tool to discover, celebrate, and change their communities.
• Enable children to work in teams to identify, plan and carry out projects that improve their communities, showing them that their efforts can make a difference.

The Service Learning Project provides structure for teams to participate in the five steps of a student-led service-learning project:

• Take an inventory of issues affecting their community.
• Decide on an issue, which they would like to focus.
• Conduct research through print, online media, and live interviews.
• Develop and implement their group project.
• Reflect on their project orally and in writing.       

According to a national evaluation of the America SCORES Literacy in Action program, “As a result of these service-learning activities, SCORES coaches reported that their students displayed increased community awareness, greater interest in helping others, and more involvement in their communities and schools” (Philliber Research Associates).

In 2011 was the Palms Girls team’s support earthquake relief in Japan.  They began by creating an awareness campaign that included the school community, parents, and students.  But it evolved into an action initiative where students raised money and sent a donation to the Red Cross to assist relief efforts in Japan. And we were reminded again that words turned into action can become a powerful vehicle for change driven by people of any age.