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Letter from Steve Piltch

E-News

Shipley Steps Up its Service Learning Program

Excellence. Achievement. Merit. Success. These are the qualities we hail in our children as students. They are the qualities we try to foster by challenging them with a rigorous academic program and promoting their individual talents. We reward them for getting good grades. We celebrate their victories on sports fields. We applaud their theatrical performances. But what about our children as human beings? What do we do to promote their actions as compassionate and open-minded individuals? How do we celebrate their contributions to the community and the world?

Cultivating students’ compassionate participation in the world is integral to The Shipley School’s mission. Through an extensive service learning program, which begins in Pre-K classes and continues until they graduate, Shipley students are encouraged to use their talents and contribute their time to help benefit their communities—at school, as well as at local, national, and global levels. While the tradition of service learning at Shipley is a rich one, a dedicated group of the School’s faculty members are revamping the program to help integrate service learning more meaningfully into the curriculum.

What exactly is service learning? Maria Stroup, Coordinator of the Upper School Service Learning program, Student Advocate, and health teacher, distinguishes between service learning and community service, “Community service emphasizes the habits and skills of volunteerism—it fills a need. Service learning uses that need as a foundation to examine ourselves, our society, and our future.” Sandi Richards, Upper School English teacher, Diversity Team member, and the Coordinator of Community Life at Shipley, sees service learning as “a vehicle to educate students about the realities of the world. Some kids enter on an emotional level. Other kids enter on an academic level. They should be intertwined.”

Stroup and Richards are part of the team seeking to redefine service learning at Shipley. They feel that service is inherently connected to diversity and sociopolitical issues, and that integrating service learning more fully into the curriculum will help to dismantle stereotypes and promote civic participation among students. The vision is that in each year of Upper School, students will examine a particular issue in depth while devoting a year to working with an organization that deals with that issue. Students will reflect on their experiences in a variety of venues—peer discussion groups, the student newspaper, and school assemblies. Thus, students will complete the service component of their graduation requirements in a structured, meaningful way.

Service learning doesn’t just encourage responsible citizenry. It provides opportunities for students to develop leadership skills and to excel in areas in addition to academics, the arts, or athletics. It promotes interaction with the community and encourages collaboration. And it celebrates the effort to reach out beyond oneself and understand the world in a compassionate way. Sure, Shipley encourages academic excellence and intellectual curiosity. But the School believes that a well-educated individual must balance knowledge and individual achievement with ethical behavior and a concern for others. We want our children to be successful, but we also want them to lead meaningful, compassionate lives.