Service Learning Spotlight of the Month
Title: STUDENT AMBASSADORS
Zachary Netzley, teacher at Edgewood Middle School In Warsaw, IN, shared Learning to Give unit titled “We’re All in This Together” with his Student Ambassador group during the 2017-2018 school year to prepare them for their leadership role.The Student Ambassadors strive to lessen the anxiety over the transition to middle school, to a new building, toa new group of students, and toa lunch room full of strangers.During the kickoff, the importance of creating a welcoming environment of kindness was discussed. Students worked in pairs to create posters that were hung throughout the building to encourage the student body. Once the school year began, students wore shirts to identify them as ambassadors as they assisted and supported students in finding classrooms, opening their lockers, and acclimating to the middle school. They served as tech assistants when dozens of new transfer students needed help getting their iPads set up. Throughout the course of the year, these same students have met new students at the beginning of their first day to show them the building and take them from class to class. They also ran a highly successful coat drive and stood outside the front doors to greet all parent dropoff students with a smile and open the doors for them. This service learning Student Ambassadorsproject was so successful that over 100 7thgraders applied to be ambassadors the following year due to the positive impact it had on their lives.
You can also find many examples and resources on our INSPIRE3 page to help introduce, implement, and continue service learning in your school community. You can find the resources below, as well as many more. Share them with your colleagues and teachers today.
