Learn and Serve Projects
Ashley County
Hamburg High/Allbritton Elementary (Ashley County) Amt: $10,000
Contact: Patti Meeks/Tracy Streeter
Phone 870-853-9856
The Hamburg Learn and Serve Project for 2002-2003 is a continuation of the 2001-2002 City Park project. The HHS Leadership Class along with students from Allbritton Fourth Grade will be improving the appearance of the park along with building additional structures.
The students will be involved in the planning and implementation of the project with help from community leaders, parents and involved teachers. The planned projects will be based on state frameworks in the areas of literacy, math and science. Students will also build communication and leadership skills while learning the value of community service.
Some of the improvements to the park will be: a small playground for young children near a ball-field, completion of the walking trail, landscaping along the walking trail and a landscaped picnic area. Students will be making, decorating and placing birdhouses, trash cans, birdbaths, stepping stones and plant markers.
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Clark County
Gurdon Public Schools Amt: $6,983.89
Contact: Jean Smithey
Phone 870-353-5126 (Clark County)
Students enrolled in the after school program at Cabe Middle School will be busy learning how to use software to make cards, writing puppet shows, making presentations, making senior adult paper dolls, and publishing a book on the needs of senior adults. The students will then be taking 12 trips to a neighboring nursing home and will each be assigned a senior citizen to work with. On the first trip the students will take pictures of the senior adults. They will return to school and make 20 Christmas cards for each senior citizen. They will help the seniors address and stamp the cards.
After doing research on the needs of senior adults, the students will write puppet presentations depicting the needs of senior adults. They will also have entertainment puppet shows that they will present at the nursing home. The students will also write articles on the needs of senior adults, the type of activities they enjoy doing, as well as other information that they gather. A local artist will be hired to work with students. These articles will be combined to form a book on senior adults. The books will be professionally published. Each student will receive a book. Books will also be presented to local libraries and schools.
Gurdon Public Schools Amt: $5,000
Contact: Jean Smithey
Phone (870)-353-5126 (Clark County)
The city of Gurdon has experienced 10 fires this year, which is a lot of fires considering that Gurdon has a population of 2,963. Therefore, Cabe Middle School will conduct a city wide fire safety project. This project will teach students and the community about fires and help them have a plan, or a routine to follow if a fire should ever directly affect them.
A fire safety curriculum has been developed and the local fire chief will be a guest speaker and will conduct a tour of the fire department for students. A survey will be done to discover who is in need of a smoke detector and preference will be given to the most needy families. Fireman and Junior fire marshals will install smoke detectors.
Also with these funds Cabe Middle School will conduct a tornado awareness project.
Gurdon Public Schools have adopted the Step Up to Writing method of writing. They will use their writing skills to write and have published a book on tornado safety. The science class will conduct the research and experiments necessary to provide accurate information. These books will be distributed throughout the community.
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Cleburne County
Quitman School District Amt: $10,000
Contact: Kelly Allen
Phone (501) 589-3649 (Cleburne County)
**Reading Buddies: 8th Grade students read with 3rd Grade; 7th Grade students read with 2nd grade; 6th grade students read with 1st grade; 5th grade students read with kindergarten.
This will be done the 2nd Tuesday of every month in order to involve each grade level in school improvement and to allow students to improve their community by improving their own reading scores.
**Parent/Student Reading Night--Parents and students kK-8 read together and students teach parents how to take the reading quiz on the computer so parents and students improve their reading skills together. This will be done the 1st Thursday of each month.
**7th and 8th grade students visit and read to the elderly. The 7th and 8th graders will also show the elderly how to e-mail and other simple computer skills.
**Story Hour--Community members and teachers will read to pre-school, kindergarten and 1st graders, also craft projects will be done. This will be done the 3rd Wednesday of each month.
**Students will write articles and take pictures for the local newspaper, web page and school newsletter.
**Local police and fire departments will visit and talk to students about safety and career awareness.
**Community Closet--Clothes, shoes and school supplies are available year round.
**The students k-8 also will hold a yearly food drive and a humane society drive. The students also collect and count the items for the school-wide recycling program.
Quitman School District Amt: $5,000
Contact: Kelly Allen
Phone (501) 589-3649 (Cleburne County)
Quitman students will provide senior citizens in their community information and supplies in order to be prepared for emergency situations. Pamphlets on safety will be distributed and will also be used during the reading buddies sessions when the higher grades read to the lower grades. Quitman students will develop an awareness campaign to prepare the school/community for emergency situations.
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Crawford County
JJ Izard Elementary Amt: $5,000
Contact: Mary McCutchen
Phone: (Crawford County)
The 3rd and 4th grade students of JJ Izard Elementary will provide the community with a fire prevention program and a tornado safety program. With the aide of the local fire department students will learn first hand about fire safety. Students will then make posters and prepare and oral presentation. Parents will be invited to attend a fire safety program and a smoke detector will be offered to anyone that attends and does not have one. This program will be offered on weekends so that more of the community will be able to attend. The same procedures will be followed in developing a tornado safety program. The development of these projects will greatly enhance the writing skills, reading skills and communication skills of students.
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Drew County
Monticello Middle School Amt: $10,000
Jay Hughes
Phone: 870-367-4040 (Drew County)
Monticello Middle School will develop and implement a school-wide thematic unit to integrate all curriculum areas centered on the students landscaping and maintaining the Monticello Middle School Campus and the adjoining property. The students will also design and begin a recycling project to focus on maintaining the environment. The project will engage all of the middle school students, parents, community businesses, and state agencies. This will allow students to be involved in problem solving, "real world" activities, beautification of their surroundings, and responsibility of maintaining the environment. The students will be using the integration of academic areas, problem based learning, and Character Education to accomplish these goals. Students will be involved in more positive and respectful relationships with adults, and they will take more pride in the appearance and up-keep of their neighborhoods and community
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Faulkner County
Vilonia Middle School
Contact: Cathy Riggins
Phone: (501)796-2940 (Faulkner County)
Through the efforts of Vilonia Middle School’s Video Production Network, students will develop professional videos and brochures to be shown in churches, various clubs, organizations and all of the schools. The first topic will be tornado safety. Vilonia is known as “tornado alley”. Equipment will be purchased allowing students to develop videos on tornado awareness and safety specific to the area. A second topic will be focused on ice storm preparedness. A third will be videos and information on fire safety.
Some information will be the most common ideas that everyone should be familiar with. Others will be conveyed as fireman, police and emergency personnel are interviewed. These tapes will be free of charge to community organizations, schools and churches. The students will also show these videos in the Senior Centers and Nursing Homes.
Students overall literacy skills will be improved through this project.
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Lawrence County
Lynn Public Schools Amt: $10,000
Contact: Taftnee Cox
Phone (870) 528-3462 (Lawrence County)
The Learn and Serve Project for Lynn Public Schools is to rebuild and maintain a safer and more environmentally inviting elementary playground that will available for utilization by all of the children of Lynn. The science students 7-12 grade will bring the playground up to safety standards and build a connecting environmentally friendly nature trail with identifying markers for trees, flowers, and wildlife habitats. Community and business leaders skilled in design and architecture will assist students. This project will tie into basic skills of math calculations, critical thinking, economics, problem solving and ecological conservation.
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Logan County
Paris Middle School Amt: $5,000
Contact: Gerald Henry
Phone (Logan County)
The majority of patrons within the Paris community are statistically known as being economically disadvantaged. A large senior population exists. The students at Paris Middle School have made partnerships with local businesses and community organizations i.e. the Town and Country Supermarket, Arkansas Department of Human Services, Paris Rotary Club, City of Paris Housing, Rose Drugs and the Paris Express. Through these partnerships the middle school students will provide kits to senior citizens that will contain appropriate items for use in an emergency. The reflection by students will incorporate the four areas of writing advocated by the Arkansas Writing Assessment – style, sentence formation, usage, and mechanics.
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Pulaski County
Arkansas School for the Blind Amt: $5,000
Contact: Ken Fowler
Phone: (501)351-6273 (Pulaski County)
The Arkansas School for the Blind 7th –12th grade students will provide emergency and disaster preparation kits to the blind and Deaf Blind communities of central Arkansas. This project will consist of collecting special vibrating and or flashing smoke detectors. Also we will provide flashlights, small radios, batteries, first aid kits, and other miscellaneous supplies. We will also develop instructions and emergency information sheets in Braille and Large Print.
These funds will also aide the Arkansas School for the Blind in its endeavor to develop an emergency shelter site on the campus. This site will contain generators for occasions when full power has been lost due to ice storms, tornados or other such disasters. This shelter will be open to all local community members in the surrounding area of the Arkansas School for the Blind. The will be an awareness campaign held to inform the community.
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Sebastian County
Carnall Elementary Amt: $5,000
Contact: Michela Wiley
Phone 479-474-8131 (Sebastian County)
Carnall students, staff, PTA, and our Partners in Education have joined together to construct a walking trail around the perimeter of the Carnall Elementary playground. This walking trail will provide opportunities to promote life-long strategies for healthy living for all K – 6th grade students and provide our neighborhood with a safe place to walk. Carnall is located in an area of the city that has no nearby parks. Currently, families and children of all ages use the Carnall playground during non-school hours.
Students are actively involved in raising funds to construct the trail. They also plan to be active participants in landscaping projects upon the completion of the trail. Math, economics, science, and writing are areas of curriculum that are being incorporated into planning, construction, and implementation of the walking trail.
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Sevier County
Lockesburg School District Amt: $9,900
Contact: Thomas Sweeten
Phone: (870) 289-2431 (Sevier County)
The Lockesburg school district plans to raise their literacy scores by providing and opportunity for English students to visit local Senior Citizens Center and nursing homes. During these visits, our students will record the history of our community, state and nation as recalled by our senior citizens. These recollections will be integrated into the curriculum of our English, history, and journalism classes and will be compiled into book form by our journalism and multi-media classes.
It is also our plan to offer community computer literacy classes in the evening at our school computer lab. We feel that these classes will build a stronger community ownership of our school as well as providing a needed service to our community members. We are also organizing a Lockesburg Darter television and video organization of youths that will provide broadcasting services to our community.
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Union County
Mount Holly Amt: $7,080
Contact: Regina Jean
Phone (870)-554-2341 (Union County)
Mount Holly School has developed a project where service and learning come together involving the community with the school. The idea of an Educational Walking Path incorporating physical fitness and academics meets the needs of the students and the people in the community. The educational path will foster civic responsibility and promote the well-being of individuals using the walking path. Most importantly, the educational path will link the efforts of the student, the school, and the community to focus on behaviors that promote learning and form lifelong healthful habits.
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Van Buren County
Shirley School District Amt: $10,000
Contact: Vicki Sandage
Phone (501)723-4907 (Van Buren County)
With training as a core component, students and community members recognize community needs that can be addressed by service learning projects and develop responsive efforts. Facilitated workshops guide students from 5th through 12th grades and teachers and parents to identify projects in small-group configurations.
Building on a variety of past projects over four years, new and continuing efforts include working with local artists to enhance the appearance of a largely abandoned strip of storefronts in downtown Shirley and, in cooperation with the vocational agriculture program and the Van Buren County Master Gardeners, development of a greenhouse that will assist on-campus and community gardening projects. Other group projects include a community oral history project; a teacher appreciation effort at elementary and high school levels; establishment of a chapter of SADD; and coordination of a “Food for Kids” program; and the creation and presentation of elementary level teaching materials in reading, math, character principles, and life skills.
The county’s Master Gardeners have given significant volunteer support, along with area media and many other community members.
Shirley School District Amt: $5,000
Contact: Vicki Sandage
Phone (501)723-4907 (Van Buren County)
Shirley School’s service-learning students have surveyed their community and have discovered some major necessities for emergency preparedness. Their objective is to improve Shirley’s level of emergency preparedness with focus on communications, training, and public information. Communications during an emergency will be improved among buildings and facilities on campus and between campus and the county’s 911 agency. The first step will be installation of a bell system that will be used for emergency alerts at four campus sites that do not presently have bell systems for such use. In addition, hand-held radios will be procured and distributed among key elementary, high school, and administrative locations to be used in emergency situations.
Communications between campus and county 911 services will be improved by designation of a 911 contact site on campus. This will allow immediate and continuous contact between campus and the county 911 coordinator in Fairfield Bay.
At least four staff members will be trained in CPR and basic first aid and will be designated as initial responders who will provide basic care until first responders or trained medical personnel arrive.
Procedures developed through this project will be related to the community by student dissemination of information. Ten PSA announcements, thirty seconds in length will be developed and aired on radio station KFFB, the area’s local broadcaster. These spots will be developed by participating students under the guidance of KFFB production staff. The spots will be broadcast during June and July. The PSA’s will include information on emergency plans, evacuation plans and how information may be obtained.
Students writing, planning, organizational and interpersonal communications skills will be enhanced.
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Washington County
Woodland Junior High School
Contact: Connie Crisp
Phone (501)-444-3067
The Woodland Junior High School service learning class has completed a fund raiser for the homeless population in the Fayetteville School District. $520.00 was raised along with donated food and clothing.
Every Tuesday morning Service-Learning (SL) students help preschool students at Richardson Center, a preschool for physically and Mentally handicapped children, Children's House, a preschool for abused children who are court ordered to be in the facility and West Campus nursery, a nursery for babies 6 weeks-3 years of teenage mothers who are finishing high school. A group of 7 students volunteer at each facility for 10 weeks.
Every Wednesday morning, SL students tutor lower grade students at Asbell Elementary or they have the option of volunteering at Northwest Nursing Home. The groups switch at semester in order to gain experience at both places. Students will be writing a character sketch about a person that they work with, they will also do an oral history with a nursing home patient.
The students will later be working with a computer engineering class from the U of A in the spring on a joint service project (to be announced). They also plan to do an environmental project in the spring and have a speaker coming from the State Environmental Department.
Some of the students also perform projects on the weekend such as volunteering at the VA Hospital on Veterans Day, raking leaves for an elderly person, and visiting other nursing homes.
The SL projects were in the Gazette and the local paper this fall. The Service Learning class is a work in progress and since there are so many community needs, they are on a mission to continue to address them.
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