Community-Based Service-Learning in Iowa
Youth Make a Difference through Reach Out Iowa
AMES, Iowa – Six Iowa communities were targeted when the Reach Out Iowa program began in 2009. Since then, youth groups in the Sioux City, Waterloo, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Winterset and Marshalltown areas have participated in many successful service learning initiatives through the program. A goal of the program is that adults in these communities see the value that hard working and creative youth can bring when addressing complex community issues. “We set this up so that there was a good mix of urban and rural communities involved in the program,” said Marc Peterson, Reach Out Iowa coordinator and a 4-H urban program specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. “These young people are reaching out to communities that have been negatively affected by floods and that are still in harsh economic times. Service learning programming provides these communities with valuable assets and assistance. Through the program, we have already helped more than 2,500 people.”
The Reach Out Iowa initiative uses service learning as a tool to help youth become involved in solving community problems. The goal of the program is to strengthen communities by empowering youth to step up and make a difference. Service learning involves more than traditional community service and has six components: conducting a community investigation, preparing for service, taking action, reflecting on experiences, demonstrating what was accomplished and celebrating success. The six components make up the IPARDC model, and youth have followed these steps as they complete their projects.
Youth and adults who want to become involved in the Reach Out Iowa program complete a service learning orientation and learn about the IPARDC model. The Corporation for National and Community Service funds Reach Out Iowa, which is being implemented in partnership with the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service. The funding helps offset the direct costs of the service learning project including supplies, transportation costs, journals, reflection tools and staffing costs.
Reach Out Iowa isn’t just for 4-H’ers, Peterson said. Any group or club that works with young people, ages 12 to 17, is eligible for funding.
“This project confirms what we see in 4-H: When you give young people the opportunity to lead, they’ll step up and lead,” Peterson said. “These youth are showing their communities that they are valuable citizens with voices to be heard.”
Benefit to Youth and Communities On May 9, 2011, more than 500 Marion High School students participated in “One Day in May,” a service learning project for the Marion community. Groups of students visited nursing homes, landscaped parks, created a walking path, gardened and painted bowls for a local project. The 15 students on the planning team learned how to develop a project and work within the constraints of a budget, through the IPARDC model. Community leaders witnessed the benefit of youth first-hand.
“We’re trying to showcase what youth can do in a community, and how they can make a difference,” Peterson said.
In July 2011, the Research Institute for Studies in Education (RISE) at Iowa State University reported that the Reach Out Iowa program has had a positive impact in participants’ lives. Civic knowledge, leadership skills, community attachment, community responsibility and perception of personal skills increased in youth as a result of the service learning projects.
Peterson explained that Reach Out Iowa’s long-term goal is to positively change community perceptions of youth. “We want community groups to involve young groups in decision making. We want young people to have a say in what happens in their communities,” he said.
The Reach Out Iowa program will continue until August 2012. For more information on how to get involved, contact Judy Levings at jlevings@iastate.edu.
Wed, 07/27/2011 - 13:44 | By Marc Peterson , Erin Fosselman
The Reach Out Iowa initiative uses service learning as a tool to help youth become involved in solving community problems. The goal of the program is to strengthen communities by empowering youth to step up and make a difference. Service learning involves more than traditional community service and has six components: conducting a community investigation, preparing for service, taking action, reflecting on experiences, demonstrating what was accomplished and celebrating success. The six components make up the IPARDC model, and youth have followed these steps as they complete their projects.
Youth and adults who want to become involved in the Reach Out Iowa program complete a service learning orientation and learn about the IPARDC model. The Corporation for National and Community Service funds Reach Out Iowa, which is being implemented in partnership with the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service. The funding helps offset the direct costs of the service learning project including supplies, transportation costs, journals, reflection tools and staffing costs.
Reach Out Iowa isn’t just for 4-H’ers, Peterson said. Any group or club that works with young people, ages 12 to 17, is eligible for funding.
“This project confirms what we see in 4-H: When you give young people the opportunity to lead, they’ll step up and lead,” Peterson said. “These youth are showing their communities that they are valuable citizens with voices to be heard.”
Benefit to Youth and Communities On May 9, 2011, more than 500 Marion High School students participated in “One Day in May,” a service learning project for the Marion community. Groups of students visited nursing homes, landscaped parks, created a walking path, gardened and painted bowls for a local project. The 15 students on the planning team learned how to develop a project and work within the constraints of a budget, through the IPARDC model. Community leaders witnessed the benefit of youth first-hand.
“We’re trying to showcase what youth can do in a community, and how they can make a difference,” Peterson said.
In July 2011, the Research Institute for Studies in Education (RISE) at Iowa State University reported that the Reach Out Iowa program has had a positive impact in participants’ lives. Civic knowledge, leadership skills, community attachment, community responsibility and perception of personal skills increased in youth as a result of the service learning projects.
Peterson explained that Reach Out Iowa’s long-term goal is to positively change community perceptions of youth. “We want community groups to involve young groups in decision making. We want young people to have a say in what happens in their communities,” he said.
The Reach Out Iowa program will continue until August 2012. For more information on how to get involved, contact Judy Levings at jlevings@iastate.edu.
Wed, 07/27/2011 - 13:44 | By Marc Peterson , Erin Fosselman
Volunteers working at the Service Patch, a community garden project supported by AmeZone and Story County Volunteer Center. Summer 2010
Community-based service-learning does not receive the kind of public attention that service-learning receives in education. Yet it offers significant benefits to society, to young people, and to participating institutions.
"Schools are not the only institutions that educate our young people, and community-based organizations can be far more than the 'stage' that schools use to deliver the service-learning programs that they develop. Kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade schooling is only one format for 'education' where young people gain the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and aspirations they will need to become successful adults" (Lawrence Neil Bailis and colleagues, 2005).
"Schools are not the only institutions that educate our young people, and community-based organizations can be far more than the 'stage' that schools use to deliver the service-learning programs that they develop. Kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade schooling is only one format for 'education' where young people gain the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and aspirations they will need to become successful adults" (Lawrence Neil Bailis and colleagues, 2005).
Reach Out Iowa
The Reach Out Iowa network is a community-based service-learning program hosted by Iowa State University 4H Extension. ROI provides training, technical assistance and funding to local, regional and statewide service learning initiatives in six Iowa communities: Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Waterloo, Sioux City, Marshalltown and Winterset.
Reach Out Iowa works with groups of youth and adults across the state that are helping and strengthening their communities through service learning. The Reach Out Iowa project is a grant from Learn and Serve America and overseen by the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service. Support, training and funding is available for your youth group, even if you are not a 4-H club. Check out the Reach Out Iowa home page with community-based service-learning resources and their online networking site. Contact Marc Peterson with questions.
Reach Out Iowa works with groups of youth and adults across the state that are helping and strengthening their communities through service learning. The Reach Out Iowa project is a grant from Learn and Serve America and overseen by the Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service. Support, training and funding is available for your youth group, even if you are not a 4-H club. Check out the Reach Out Iowa home page with community-based service-learning resources and their online networking site. Contact Marc Peterson with questions.
Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service Initiative
The Iowa Commission on Volunteer Service recently awarded community-based service-learning grants to organizations to develop community-based service learning programs in at least five counties in Iowa through their Statewide Service Learning Grants. Funding to support the service learning initiatives is provided, in part, through a grant from State Farm. The organizations selected for funding (and communities served) are: Graceland University (Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Ringgold, Wayne and Union Counties), Iowa Campus Compact [a minimum of five counties (yet to be determined) selected through an RFP process], Volunteer Center of Story County (Story County), Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley (Black Hawk County), Volunteer Center of Fairfield (Fairfield), and Wartburg College (Bremer, Butler, Chickasaw, Fayette and Floyd Counties). To learn more click here. Contact Justin Villere with questions.
The Commission is hosting an AmeriCorps* VISTA, Mike Henneberry, who is working on promoting statewide community-based service-learning. She is happy to do presentations to groups, provided support and assistance through the service-learning process as well as answer any general questions about service-learning. Contact him with any inquiries.
The Commission is hosting an AmeriCorps* VISTA, Mike Henneberry, who is working on promoting statewide community-based service-learning. She is happy to do presentations to groups, provided support and assistance through the service-learning process as well as answer any general questions about service-learning. Contact him with any inquiries.
Youth Building Healthy Communities (YBHC)
Youth Building Healthy Communities (YBHC) is an after school student-run service-learning project comprised of students who have an interest in public health and want to make a difference in the health of their community. The GEAR UP Program at Lincoln High School and Central Iowa AHEC collaborated to co-sponsor YBHC throughout the fall 2010 semester.
Students in the Lincoln High School YBHC program created a survey to determine what health issues affected Lincoln students most on a daily basis. Perception data from 590 valid surveys showed that 70 percent of the students surveyed ranked drugs and alcohol, teen pregnancy and bullying as the top three issues of highest concern at their school. “A Dose of Truth: Things We Don’t Want To Talk About” was planned around the results of the survey. Contact Laura Butz with questions.
Students in the Lincoln High School YBHC program created a survey to determine what health issues affected Lincoln students most on a daily basis. Perception data from 590 valid surveys showed that 70 percent of the students surveyed ranked drugs and alcohol, teen pregnancy and bullying as the top three issues of highest concern at their school. “A Dose of Truth: Things We Don’t Want To Talk About” was planned around the results of the survey. Contact Laura Butz with questions.
Access more examples and resources here.
Need assistance with community-based service-learning? Contact Mike Henneberry.
Need assistance with community-based service-learning? Contact Mike Henneberry.
