The Kennedy Serve America Act includes a Semester of Service initiative as one of its approaches to promoting service-learning innovation. It would engage high school students, a large percentage of whom must be economically disadvantaged, in semester-long service-learning projects lasting at least 70 hours. Projects could be either school- or community-based, but there must be a classroom-based component that is integrated into the academic program of the local education agency.
Students must receive academic credit for the classroom and field components of their projects and the credit must be equivalent to what they would receive if they put forth similar effort in a non-service-learning course. Further, at least one-third of the hours dedicated to a project must be "spent participating in field-based activities." Semester of Service programs could be funded for up to three years, and the first year could be exclusively for planning.
Semester of Service encourages students, ages 5-25, to develop a semester-long service-learning project that launches on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service (January 19, 2009) and culminates on Global Youth Service Day (April 24-26, 2009). Projects take place in classrooms as part of the academic curriculum; in schools as part of the extra-curricular activities; in congregations of faith; and in youth development groups in neighborhoods across the United States. During these 12 weeks, young people from elementary schools to graduate universities will identify a problem or unmet need that affects their community, the nation, or the world. They will prepare a plan, take action to implement their solution, reflect deeply on their progress and next steps, and celebrate their success. (www.semesterofservice.org)
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July 2009
