Service-Learning Project

Abstract

This year, Mrs. Carla Smith, a new secondary school director of Middleburg Secondary School, will lead a group of fifteen of her 14--‐16 year--‐old students to the Dominican Republic on a service learning project. The students have typically never traveled abroad and been immersed in the culture in a foreign country. Mrs. Smith intends for this to be an annual event designed to build leadership capacity in her students and a passion for them to recognize ways they can make positive social change in their world. Mrs. Smith kicks off the service learning project by first contacting all parents with general information about the project and invites them to an informational meeting. She is sensitive to the fact that she does not want students to hear about the opportunity before parents have an opportunity to hear about the expectations and financial information, so they can make an informed decision about whether or not they would like to offer the opportunity for their children to participate in the project. At the parent meeting, Mrs. Smith shared the following information: