Stage One

Project Overview

* This Major Project will be completed with colleague Jane Blanton.

Sunny Heights Middle School believes in investing time and energy in a multi-grade (6,7,8) Service Learning Program that addresses identified needs throughout the community. It is the goal of the school community to provide opportunities for students to make a difference through service learning activities that incorporate the Illinois Learning Standards and character standards. Service Learning opportunities that have taken place in the past, such as introductory teacher awareness of the precepts of service learning, involvement in Environmental Protection Agency projects, and developing technology skills, have developed positive community connections and heightened involvement from all stakeholders. The hallmark of this project is for students to develop relationships with community members in establishing avenues to create books on tape to be available for children at a local women’s shelter, high school child care classes and a local children’s hospital. Throughout the project, students will work with senior members of the community in creating the products and developing reading and technology skills by having the books made into audio tapes (students reading and audio taping age-appropriate literature to community members), letters drafted on the computer to the recipients, and creation and editing of a video that will be edited using AVIO equipment, made available to the community (at the Village Hall and Senior Centers) and linked to the school website for easy access to a larger audience. This project will enhance the development of community partnerships along with the opportunity to create connections with local shelters, hospitals and high school child care centers, in coordinating an effort to enhance reading literacy across intergenerational lines, apply practical applications of character development and establish an opportunity to share appropriate technology skills with senior community members.