Redefining a service-learning program model for increased efficiency
Abstract
Humane Society Silicon Valley (California) offers the Compassion in Action service-learning program as a way for teens to learn about and address animal welfare issues that impact their local communities. This effective practice provides a program outline and curriculum model, and highlights the steps taken to reduce the staff time required to oversee the program. Jaime Allen, of Humane Society Silicon Valley, shared this effective practice at a meeting of the CalServe Region Five Service-Learning Advisory Consortium in October 2007.Issue
After its initial year of operation, a community-based, animal welfare, service-learning program realized it needed to reevaluate its objectives in relation to staffing limitations and program structure.Action
Humane Society Silicon Valley's Compassion in Action (CIA) program allows students, 15-17 years of age, to explore animal welfare topics impacting their community. Each eight-week program consists of:- One 90-minute Saturday orientation session
- One after school (two hour) session per week
- One Saturday per month
Humane Society Silicon Valley (HSSV) charges each student $50 to participate. The cost provides for an HSSV volunteer T-shirt, name badge, training manual, and class materials. Some fee waivers are available.
Students and their guardians must fill out registration and liability release forms prior to beginning the program.
In the first year of the CIA program, HSSV allowed each student to choose an individual topic. Although this provided for optimal youth voice, it ultimately proved too time consuming for HSSV staff to manage effectively. As a result, adaptations were made and the program's second year has been much more manageable, while still offering a quality experience for students. The following outline describes the initial year, followed by the changes made for the second year of the program.
YEAR ONE
Pilot Program
- Teachers and students contacted HSSV individually throughout the year
- Students chose one of 12 various topics related to animal welfare
- HSSV staff met with each student and created a unique service-learning plan
- Individualized plan included web research about that topic
- Students performed majority of service at home or in their community
Successes
- Flexibility allowed students to work on projects at their own pace
- Students received one-on-one support
- Youth voice was heard
- Some reflection noted
- Recognition event held
Challenges
- HSSV staff was spending too much time preparing individual topics for each student
- Lack of planning between HSSV and students' teachers
- Did not have shared expectations
- Lack of cooperative learning
- Long-term impact not evaluated
YEAR TWO
Program Redesign
- Renamed program, Compassion In Action, for better marketability
- Eight-week program, 30 hours total
- One topic per eight-week program; students join when a topic of interest is available
- On- and off-site activities structured around a predetermined theme
- Students work in large groups at shelter and small groups on individualized projects
Continuing Challenges
- Collaboration with schools, families, other community organizations
- Incorporating civic responsibility
- Appropriate evaluation
The following outline for the "All About Cats" program is one example of the learning objectives for an eight-week program. School subject requirements meet California academic standards. Future topics may include, "All About Dogs," "Overpopulation," and "Adoption."
Cat Needs and Behavior
School Subject Requirements Met: Career Technical Education — agricultural science (researching history of animal domestication, health, and nutrition)
- What things do cats need to feel safe, happy, and healthy?
- How much does it cost to take care of a cat for his entire life?
- How do cats communicate with each other and with me?
- Why does my cat do that?
Cats at HSSV
School Subject Requirements Met: History/Social Science — world history, culture, and geography (discussing population growth during Industrial Revolution)
- What is "kitten season" at an animal shelter?
- Why do shelters have foster care programs for cats?
- What does overpopulation mean, and how does it affect me, my family, and my community?
Cats in the Community
School Subject Requirements Met: History/Social Science — chronological and spatial thinking (analyzing science-based societal issues)
- How many homeless cats are there in Santa Clara County?
- What is the effect of homeless cats on the native bird population?
- What does T.N.R. stand for?
- How can I make a difference for cats at the shelter and in my community?
On-site activities conducted by youth in the CIA program:
- Devise a way to ensure kitty litter boxes and cat toys are available to volunteers as needed
- Research cat-friendly plants/research homeopathic stress remedies for animals
- Determine how much newspaper HSSV uses each day
- Unload donation bins and cross-reference foods that are on recall list
- Clean kitten carriers and greet foster parents
Off-site activities based on Gardner's eight multiple intelligences:
- Bodily-Kinesthetic: design a cat scratcher
- Interpersonal: host a roundtable discussion
- Intrapersonal: write a poem or predict the perceptions held by others about animal issues
- Linguistic: create a written survey based on Web research
- Logical-Mathematical: study or create formulas that express the increase in homeless cat populations
- Musical: create a skit or song
- Naturalistic: study homeless cats and predation
- Spatial: observe a cat colony; create a feeding graph
HSSV initially hopes to show:
- positive changes in student attitudes towards animals and their care; and
- an increase in the number of people educated through student-planned off-site community activities.
Context
In addition to their partnerships with local schools, Humane Society Silicon Valley also partners with other community-based individuals and organizations to support their service-learning efforts.- Palo Alto Animal Services
- Students are invited to ride along with animal control officers
- P.A.W.S. (Pets Are Wonderful Support)
- Students assemble donations collected by PAWS into holiday stockings for distribution to low-income pet caretakers
- Youth Community Service
- Service-learning mentoring for HSSV staff
- Homeless cat caretakers
- Students are sometimes allowed to assist individuals with the feeding of feral cat colonies (because this can be a contentious issue, such participation is not always advisable or available)
HSSV’s service-learning program began at the end of 2005. Initial interest for the program was sparked when HSSV staff read related articles in Edutopia, a publication of the George Lucas Foundation. Further interest was generated when HSSV staff attended the Character Education Symposium in Georgia.
The Compassion in Action service-learning program is overseen by the HSSV Education Department, whose mission is to explore the history and meaning of our animal kinship and foster a life-long commitment to animals as expressed through civic action.
HSSV adheres to its mission by practicing and teaching the “Three Rs”
- Recognize our kinship with animals
- Respect the unique way each animal expresses itself
- Reconnect to what we already know (empathy)
Humane Society Silicon Valley, established in 1929, serves the greater San Jose metropolitan region by offering quality adoptions, medical care, and education programs to enhance the human-animal bond. HSSV is a nonprofit organization supported by individual donations, program fees, foundation and corporate grants, and special events. The agency is governed by a volunteer board of directors, which oversees an annual operating budget of approximately $5.4 million.
Outcome
Lessons learned from the perspective of the community organization:- Be proactive. Contact service-learning teachers and principals. Tell them how YOU can support THEM.
- Be informed. Ask for school service-learning literature and program information before you get started with their students.
- Do your homework. Give teachers a simple outline of what students can do at your site (and what they can’t do), what you can provide teachers, and what you need FROM teachers.
- Follow up. Maintain communication with teachers to ensure what you’re doing connects with class objectives and that you’re on schedule.
- There is life outside of service-learning. Don’t assume that your teachers live and breathe service-learning. Be respectful of their time.
Recommendations for teachers looking to partner with community organizations:
- Talk to the right person. Not everyone in an organization will be aware of activities in other departments. Contact the education or volunteer department with your request.
- Set clear expectations. Make sure you understand what the community organization can provide, and what it needs. Help explain these expectations to your students.
- Be organized. Never send students to the community organization unannounced. It is unfair to both the organization and the students.
- Follow up. Check in with the community organization on student progress. After the project is completed, evaluate the effectiveness for student, teacher, and organization.
- There is life outside of service-learning. Don’t assume that everything at the community organization is related to service-learning. Be respectful of their time.
Evidence
HSSV's service-learning program was featured in a news segment produced by their local NBC affiliate.
Posted On
November 21, 2007For More Information
Resources
For insight into the feral cat controversy, this article from National Geographic can serve as a good starting point.U.S. Faces Growing Feral Cat Problem
September 7, 2004