Volunteering 101

Today in class, we read a sample persausive essay on why volunteering should be required of students. This brought about a conversation of whether or not we should be volunteering. The large majority of students agreed that they should be (especially for the reasons that were mentioned in the paper: giving back to the community, learning about self and earning more skills, and gaining good things for resumes). However, hardly any of the students had done service. This was a sad realization for me. I grew up doing service projects and volunteering with my peers and family. I don't want my students to miss out on that opportunity. So, if you are a parent, please be open and aware of ways that you can give this valuable experience to your child. Service learning is an important aspect of a well rounded education. (for more of a definition, visit this site or the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_learning ) I am resolving to incorporate a minimum of two service learning projects with every class that I teach.