I am the Director of the Community Service program at Chadwick School in
Palos Verdes, California. Our seniors do a 17-day outdoor education trip
in the high Sierras as a required component of the senior year. The trip
is organized through the Outdoor Education department of our school, and
is truly a highlight of the senior year. Athletic commitments, injuries
and illness, and work obligations do cut into our student participation,
however. Students who are unable or choose not to participate in the
Senior Trip commit to community service. I provide service opportunities
for about one third of the class. Students volunteer for 8 hours a day,
five days a week at one of many service destinations throughout the
greater Los Angeles area. Those sites provide the students the
opportunity to engage others who are not quite "like" them...homeless,
AIDS patients, non-English speaking students... or work in placements that
offer service related to ecology and the environment. In addition, the
group meets regularly to hear guest speakers address them on topics
ranging from gang intervention, homelessness, domestic abuse, and academic
disparity. At the conclusion of the Senior Experience, students present a
nonstructured synopsis of their experience to their peers, parents, the
junior class, and other interested adults.
If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.
Becky Noble
Director of Community Service
Chadwick School
[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
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