In this continuing wee series on exploring our education in a next chapter, I want to step outside the classroom for the next couple of days.
When I was in high school, a local organization would recruit a handful of students a year to spend time helping their ‘residents’. These were adults with various challenges, some of whom lived independently, some with other similar adults, and they all could use a little extra help.
Once a week for about a year, (I think I was about 16 or 17), I walked over from school to collect ‘Giles’ from his house and we would go to the local pool. Giles liked to go swimming and I was a trained lifeguard and swim teacher for a local kids’ group. But Giles wasn’t a kid. He was in his 30s and had Down’s Syndrome.
Giles lived in a house provided by this local organization, with several other friends all of whom also had Down’s Syndrome. The organization came to check on them and provide assistance so that Giles and his roommates could be as independent as possible. It was a great program and my school had a partnership with them to identify suitable kids to help out.
Giles got a good swim in, and then we would have a cup of tea in the adjacent cafe and he would tell me what he was watching on TV and what he had been up to that week. For Giles, it was a predictable part of his week where he got to exercise and to chat to someone different about his life. For me, it was a lesson in responsibility and consistency, learning how to talk to and listen to differently-abled people, a way to provide service, and I received my own lessons in independence - having to do this without parental supervision or assistance.
I would love to see us experiment in the US, with a required service component to our education. When done well, it enriches absolutely everyone and teaches students so many of the components that I’ve talked about over the last few days, perhaps especially empathy and compassion. And it reeeeeaaaaallly seems like we could use more of that in our next chapter.
Of course, not every student is ready or mature enough to handle all service opportunities, but there should be something for everyone. From the environment, to seniors, to mentoring younger students, to health care, animals, community gardens and on and on. For at least an hour or three a week of one semester in a student’s high school years, surely we can provide some government (or sponsorship) funding for a StudentCorps of service providers and mentors.
And, by the way, I vote that this takes the place of some homework for that semester. A kid shouldn’t have to drop out of baseball or dance or the astronomy club because of a required service component. But I do think it should come with some educational components over and above what the student gets out of the volunteering itself. Questions of self-reflection about what was uncomfortable, difficult, or tiring, understanding disparities they might witness and considering those disparities in the context of society etc. It could be the most impactful civics (non)class they take.
High school is such a formative time for understanding one’s place in the world - our relative privilege and capacity, as well as the opportunity to do good things outside of any personal benefit and how that makes us feel when we participate in that. But I think we have to get out of the classroom to really embed that learning. And for kids who struggle in traditional subjects, feeling a sense of pride and value in this sort of program could be life-changing. Actually, for everyone.
But there’s one more key component I think would be an important outcome: being mentored and starting to build a network. Kids are so connected online, but they are likely not yet being exposed to the value of a true network.
Becoming ‘alumni’ in a particular volunteer program could help connect students to future employers, mentors, and colleagues. This could be especially advantageous for students who don’t get as many extra-curricular opportunities as other students. You pretty much have to have a jam-packed resume in order to get into some colleges now (seriously - this is crazy), but knowing adults other than your teachers or parents who can vouch for your contributions and character, and recommend you for employment or college placement….that could make a big difference for some students.
We already know that college and post-college students who experience AmeriCorps or the PeaceCorps for a year or two come back changed. But I’m arguing for bringing more of this experience, in smaller and scalable ways, to our younger students too.
At least giving everyone a taste of what it means to provide service seems like it could be as much a part of a required education as a course in American literature or religious education.
And by the way, I’d like to see employers offer short sabbaticals so that we can ALL take part in service opportunities in our adult lives.
But that’s a different post….
(comments open to everyone)
StudentCorps - what a positively brilliant idea.
When my son was in high school, he was once required to travel to a local assisted living facility, where he had to/got to develop a caring relationship with a sweet elderly woman over a period of several weeks. Apparently, he even once danced with her at some event, which I’m sure was a real challenge for an awkward adolescent boy - but filled this mama’s heart. 🥰
It was one semester in a class whose name and subject I don’t even remember - but the experience stuck with him. Even years later I’ve heard him talk about it.
And when his father became ill last year, and my son and his wife brought him into their home to nurse him through his final days, their tenderness and steadfastness was as inspiring as it was brave.
I can’t help but wonder if that experience, not that many years ago, in some way gave him at least some of what he needed to get through...
Kids need those kinds of experiences. They need to feel useful. They need to experience the real world and find out they can handle it. They need the pride and self respect that comes from experiential learning - and a concept like StudentCorps would provide that.
I truly love this.