High school students practice what is taught

More and more schools are combining service projects with classroom learning.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Nine Seton High School girls are raising puppies that will be trained for use as Seeing-Eye dogs for the blind. At suburban Anderson High School, students raise money to buy Christmas gifts for children affected by AIDS.
Ursuline Academy students delivered 1,400 worth of gifts to a food pantry in Brown County. And in nearby Erlanger, Ky., four St. Henry District High School students visit a nursing center on Sundays to watch football and chat with residents.
High schools for years have encouraged students to volunteer and some schools require community-service hours for graduation. Increasingly, schools are combining service projects with classroom learning, said Steve Elliott, who directs the high school service-learning program for the Cincinnati-based Mayerson Foundation.
Students studying and writing poetry for an English class might visit a shelter once a month to read their poetry to the homeless, who would write their own poems and read them to the students.
"One of the advantages of service learning is strong reflection, having a teacher processing the experience with the kids," Elliott said. "The reflection is pretty critical, discussing what we did, why we did that, what was the process, what did we learn."
Building relationships
Elliott works with 50 high schools, including educators from as far away as Cleveland, on developing service learning as a teaching method.
St. Henry students were required this year to perform two hours of service each week at the same place.
"That way, they start to build relationships with the people they are serving," explained Shawn Schwarz, who taught the class.
They used journals and discussions of their experiences.
St. Henry seniors Ross Beeghly, Brandon Lenhof, Ben Kuebbing and Michael Rechtin formed "The Men's Club" to watch football with male residents each week at St. Charles Care Center in Covington, Ky. Besides sports, the residents and boys talk about their families or recent events in their lives or on the news. The residents sometimes talk about their past.
"I think it's just good for them to have somebody to talk to, somebody that comes every week and talks to them so they're not cooped up in their rooms," Ben said.
"It gives us a lot of enjoyment," said resident Bill Heeb, 74.
Through journals and discussions, students reflected weekly on the service that they performed that week.
Pilot Dogs
At Seton, students are raising Labrador retrievers, German shepherds and a poodle for Pilot Dogs, a Columbus nonprofit organization that trains and provides guide dogs for the blind.
"Not every kid likes tutoring or working with the elderly," said Sister Sandy Howe, Seton's community-service coordinator. "I try anything and everything, because there are different kids that like different things."
The girls received the puppies at 8 weeks old and will keep them for a year. They must take the dogs to obedience classes and the veterinarian for checkups and shots. Pilot Dogs pays for everything but food. The girls also must complete a monthly report on the dogs' activities.
Beth Kammer, a sophomore, is raising Katcher, a German shepherd.
"I just think it's important to give back to the community, especially with this project, you're helping people who can't see. You're helping them by being able to get out into the community and do what they need to do for everyday life," she said.