Service Day 2008

Dear Messiah College Professors,

Thank-you for visiting the Service Day 2008 website! We are deeply grateful for your support of the Service Day program. As professors, you are uniquely positioned to help us in our mission of encouraging students to become involved in the community. There are many ways that you can help:

1. You can participate in Service Day yourself. Service Day is a great time to get to know students, colleagues and the surrounding community.
2. You can take time during your class to discuss and reflect with the students on their various experiences.
3. You can utilize Service Day as a starting place for incorporating service-learning into your curriculum.

Service Day is not just for getting students involved in community service! As a current resident of this area, we encourage you to engage with area agencies, churches and organizations to better understand the needs and resources of your local community. This could be a meaningful opportunity to explore future Service- Learning options for your classroom.

Service-Learning refers to a pedagogical model which intentionally integrates academic learning with community service in a credit-bearing academic course. Students participate in an authentic service activity which meets needs identified by the community (designed within the framework of a mutually beneficial relationship) and critically reflect on that activity. Thus, students gain a deep understanding of course content, a commitment to socially responsible citizenship, and develop skills and understanding needed to contribute to civic well-being.*

To the right are some preliminary resources for service learning, including articles and materials for designing a service-learning component to your class. If you would like to know more about how to integrate service-learning into your curriculum, please contact Chad Frey, Director of Service Learning, at x7255.

We welcome your comments and suggestions and hope that you will contact us at x7255 or e-mail me at rowen@messiah.edu.

Sincerely,
Becky Owen, Local Community Service Director (x3891)

*Taken from Messiah's Service-Learning website.

• Service-Learning as Scholarship - an introduction to the idea and merits of service learning (John W. Eby)
• Why Service-Learning is Bad - a self-conscious critique by a proponent of service learning (John W. Eby)
• Why Servanthood is Bad - an examination of some pitfalls of the service movement (John L. McKnight)

Materials:

• Service Day 2008 Student Reflection Questions: Before and After
• 101 Ideas for Combining Service and Learning from FIU

Links:

• Messiah College Service-Learning Homepage
• National Service Learning Clearinghouse
• Campus Compact Service Learning and Faculty Development Index