Service Learning

The Five Stages of Service-Learning

Stage 1: Find Out —> Investigate: Begin the service-learning process by asking,

“What resources do we have in our group? What are our skills and talents?” Then do some

investigating about your community needs to find out a local problem that you can help

solve, and in this case, to clean up.

Stage 2: Dive In —> Prepare: What do you need to know to be well informed about the

topic? Finding out can involve other people and organizations, reading newspapers or

watching a video, and brainstorming ideas. Get yourself into “action teams” that set the

ideas into motion. All this planning leads to . . .

Stage 3: Get Going —> Act: Set your plan in motion! Remember that action is the total

of many small parts of a well-designed plan. The action can be direct (picking up trash

at the beach), indirect (setting up trash containers so others will dispose of their trash

properly), advocacy (making radio adds to promote recycling), or research (gathering

data about trash accumulation for your city council).

Stage 4: Think Back —> Reflect: During ALL the stages it’s important to pause and

consider: How is this going? What am I learning? Anything need to be changed? Checking

in through reflection keeps us on track as we connect our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Stage 5: Tell it —> Demonstrate: Tell the story of what happened! Report the data!

Show the photos! Be bold and loud and let others know what youth can do to clean up!

Remember to document every stage of service-learning beginning with Investigate so you

will have all you need to tell your story completely!

Clean-Up Preparation

Brainstorm ideas to continue the preparation.

Consider

• Community Partners: During investigation did a community organization inform you

of an upcoming cleanup event? Did you find a partner that would be willing to help you

with planning and action? A group with experience can be a great guide for learning

how to organize and implement a cleanup. Check out the following organizations’

websites to see if any of these groups are near you: Ocean Conservancy, Surfrider,

Keep American Beautiful, and Waterkeeper.

• Where and When:

What place in or near your community needs a cleanup? Be sure

to find out who is responsible for this area to start arranging for permission. Begin to

think about best dates and times.

• Budget and Supplies

A community partner with a scheduled cleanup on the

calendar may have all the supplies you need. If you are the organizers, consider what

you must have to get the job done well and keep everyone safe. Often a manager at a

beach or park can provide supplies and arrange for trash removal after the cleanup is

done.

• Documentation

Include in your plans ways to record the entire service-learning

process, including how you investigate, plan, act, reflect, and demonstrate. Think of

different ways you want to keep track. Refer back to the Personal Inventory to see

what skills and talents your group has. Use any available technology—cameras, video,

audio recorders.

• Gathering and Reporting Data

Documents are available to help you record

what you find at the beach, park, neighborhood, or school campus. This is extremely

important. Be sure to take with you the CleanUP Debris Collection Data Card, found on

page 22. Using this card during the cleanup will help you keep track of your findings so

that you may input the information to the website after the event. Visit www.earthecho.

org/wpc/cleanup to share your findings