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Perspectives
Puzzling through Service-Learning
The other day I was assembling a Disney puzzle with our 7-year-old twin daughters. We began as most people do: We first sorted out the edged pieces to make the border. Then the girls and I looked at the box cover and began fitting the remaining pieces to make the Disney characters. As with any puzzle, it took a lot of flipping and turning of pieces to make all of the parts fit together. Soon we had all of our pieces linked together, and our puzzle matched the front of the box. The girls gave each other a high five and agreed they were ready for their next puzzle.
Fitting service-learning into agricultural education and the FFA is like putting a puzzle together. It is essential to begin by evaluating the entire community and assessing its needs. I believe one of the greatest aspects of agricultural education and FFA programs is that both look to the community’s needs to drive the activities the students plan. Once the overall goal of the service project is defined, the specific pieces needed to complete the community service project should be assessed.
I first heard the term service-learning when my students were applying for the State Farm Project Ignition safe driving grant. As the students read about the grant, they realized they would need to fulfill a service-learning component to successfully compete. As the students researched service-learning, they said, ”We do community service in our program and learn while we are completing our service projects. We must be doing service-learning.” In a sense they were correct; however, service-learning combines elements that make curriculum relevant to students' lives, promotes civic responsibility and provides meaningful services to our community.
The biggest difference between the traditional community service activities our chapter had done in the past and the service-learning activities we now do is that service-learning is an on-going experience linked to learning. Many times when we had completed community service in the past, it was a one-time activity to serve a single community need. Interconnecting the numerous “puzzle pieces” takes community service projects to a more meaningful level for students. True service-learning projects put together many pieces for a successful puzzle. Pieces include duration and intensity, links to curriculum, partnerships, meaningful service, youth voice, diversity, reflection and progress monitoring.
Ridgemont FFA members used numerous puzzle pieces in the Chance Choice Life Safe Driving grant to assemble the service-learning picture. Partners in the four-month youth-planned project included State Farm Insurance Agents, The Ohio State Highway Patrol, five other FFA chapters and the Hardin County Ag Health and Safety Council. Safe driving curriculum was linked with the Family and Consumer Sciences, physics, health and technology classes. Students spent time reflecting on the project by analyzing modifications they would make in the next year’s grant application. In addition, two students traveled to the National Service-learning Conference to gather new ideas for the expansion of service-learning projects. When the jigsaw pieces come together in a student’s mind, they then become life-long service-learners.
Service-learning genuinely links three pieces of the FFA’s motto: Learning to Do. Doing to Learn. Learning to Serve. Our ag program began flipping and turning our community service puzzle pieces to make our service-learning picture more concrete. Adding a few more pieces to our puzzle has transformed our community service projects into youth-led service-learning programs.