By:Laura Lane
Mendoza, a perfectionist, even created a portfolio that not only listed her endeavors, but also included a collage of photos. She ended up with 116 hours of volunteer work.
Mendoza and 27 other Clarke Middle School students will soon receive recognition for these volunteer hours by receiving the Presidential Service Award. It-s Mendoza-s third year of involvement and once again, she-ll get the highest honor, a gold pin.
In January 2002, President George Bush asked Americans to dedicate at least 4,000 hours over the course of their lives to serve others at home or abroad. The President-s Call to Service Award was created to reward those who answered this request for volunteerism. To receive a pin and certificate from the president, students have 12 months to reach the required amount of hours.
One hundred hours of community service are needed to get the top honor, a gold award. Seventy-five hours are required for the silver, and for the bronze, 50 hours. Kids have to keep track of their hours on a log in sheet and have it signed by the person in charge of the project.
But, regardless of whether students participate in the presidential program, at Clarke Middle School, they volunteer during school hours in the community. Service learning, an integral part of the middle school, was introduced in 1993 by former middle school principal, the late Ivy Diton.
It-s aimed to combine academics and action. Whereas before students might just learn about pollution in a classroom, service learning takes those classes a step further and employees the youngsters to cleanup a local pond or park, for instance.
In 2000, Jill Artus, a health teacher, decided to get the middle school involved even more. She went to Washington D.C. to become a national service learning leader. I had to present a portfolio and [government officials] said it was the best one they had ever received, Artus said. As a result, Clarke Middle School became one of 34 schools in the United States acknowledged by Washington as a service learning school.Ê
Artus is the project director for around six schools in the district and the coordinator of the service learning program. It has become her passion. Service learning promotes an epic of caring and fosters a sense of responsibility and civic mindedness, Artus said. Hopefully we are producing good students with good character.
For years Clarke Middle School students have reached out to the community. They-ve worked with children in the districts elementary schools, pre-schools and with seniors. And teachers have incorporated these lessons into the curriculum.
In one class, eighth-graders were assigned to read a Harry Potter book. The books were given to seniors at the Salisbury Senior Center too. Kids kept journals with their reactions to the Harry Potter book, which were then given to a senior partner who would also write in the journal.
The journals were exchanged back and forth and after everyone finished the book, the eighth-graders saw the movie with their senior partner. The kids saw a different perspective on the book with their senior partner, Artus said. And the seniors were able to get some attention from the kids. They probably usually only see grandchildren that are this age.
Kids at Clarke Middle School have been participating in the President-s Call to Service Award for the last four years. But Artus said Mendoza-s 116 hours was unusual. Kids are busy and it-s not always possible for them to get this many hours, Artus said. The ones who get 100 hours are totally driven. Malorie-s portfolio is beautiful. You can tell she put a lot of time into it.
Participants can log in hours from time spent in service clubs at Clarke, or seek opportunities outside school like volunteering to help parents, neighbors, camps or work at churches and temples. A few years ago, students put flyers in mailboxes around East Meadow offering to rake leaves, shovel snow or baby-sit.
Artus thought this was inventive, but she added that kids are always coming up with new ways to accumulate hours. In doing so, they become active in their community and learn the importance of helping others.
Artus believes service learning is catching on at Clarke Middle School. When kids get to the first level and get a bronze award, they are driven to then get to that next level, she said. Every year, we get more and more kids to participate. Service learning makes school become more relevant.
