Practice of Civic Skills and Social Responsibility

Service Learning Class Fall 2016: Venetia Valley Elementary School

A moment that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of others was when I took a class that involved service learning. My community partner, Venetia Valley Elementary School, involved middle school children and the thought of working with that age group intimidated me. My middle school experience was not the best one and I was afraid I would not be able to connect with the students. However, all assumptions I had were wrong and I left the last day of class and service learning with a different mindset. When serving at Venetia Valley it allowed me to become aware of the academic achievement gap that is present within schools, and it enabled me to utilize what I learned in the classroom of service learning to become empathetic about the problems students may face. This class then encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and explore the community around me.Through interviews, research, and observations, I began to understand the root causes of the many problems that create the academic achievement gap within schools and understand the students within the community. Therefore, through my experiences at the school I was able to learn I took think things for granted growing up in comparison to some of the students I worked with and every student has a story to tell no matter what age. Furthermore, it made me more open minded about the world around me and influenced me to push myself to know the people within my community.

If you wish to continue reading about my service learning experience a full entry is attached here.