Students will identify and create a year-long learning service project that meets a need of the school community or outside community.

Anticipatory Set:

Begin the day with the following quote:

“Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life's blood. But everyone has something to give.”

-- Barbara Bush

Say to the learners: “It is much easier to identify treasure as a source of giving. It is much more difficult to identify time or talent that can be a source of giving.” Ask the students to identify one thing (time or talent) that they can offer or give to another.

• Create a T-chart on chart paper, labeling one side Time and the other Talents . Ask for examples and list the items mentioned by the students under the respective title. After going around once, proceed to list as many items as possible. Hang on the wall.
• On a different piece of chart paper, create a list of treasures that the students possess. Hang on the wall next to Time and Talents .
• Ask the learners to discuss whether the participation of citizens, especially those who are not old enough to vote yet, is important to a strong community and society.
• Say: “Now that we have identified our time, talent and treasure, we are going to create a list of needs within the community.” On three separate pieces of chart paper, label the first School Community Needs , label the second Neighborhood Needs , and label the third Larger Community Needs . On the first piece of chart paper, brainstorm a list of needs within the school community. On the second piece of chart paper brainstorm a list of community needs within the neighborhood of the school. On the third piece of chart paper, brainstorm a list of needs from the larger community (think city or county-wide). (Teacher Note: Be sure to leave space beside each idea for the next step.)
• Upon completion of the brainstorming, go back through each list, but evaluate each item on the list as a need of time, talent or treasure or a combination of the three. List this beside each item on the chart paper. Hang on the wall.
• As a group, look for any correlations where community needs can be met by the group's time/talent/treasure. Refer to or use Local Need Selection Worksheet ( Attachment One ) to assist in this process.
• Once these have been identified, refer to Journal notes from the philanthropy presentations in the previous lesson. Are there any organizations that help support the needs of the nearby community that tie into the group's time/talent/treasure? Use local resources or the Internet to research various groups and their programs.
• Decide as a group the type of service learning project that would best meet the needs of the community and utilize the time, talent and treasure the group possesses.
• Collaboratively make the necessary contacts to conduct the service learning project. Upon contact, create a list of expectations for the service learning project, the group, the individuals and expected outcomes.