In trying to get a sense of the evolution of service learning, I figured I would have to go back in history a few decades to discover the genesis of the concept. It made sense that it would have stemmed from “asking not what you can do for your country” or maybe the war on poverty, but the president that planted the seeds of service learning wasn’t Kennedy or Johnson. You have to go back another hundred years into the past.

Abraham Lincoln’s Land Grant program was created to enhance experiential learning in “agriculture and the mechanic arts”, in other words, it put students literally in the field to learn in a hands-on way. Prior to that, almost all academic learning was constrained to the classroom. Thirty years later, Hull House founder Jane Addams continued putting students to work in the community to, as she put it “live a life that will bring us into a larger existence, and connect us with society as a whole.”

Today in Bellingham, service learning students from Western Washington University and Whatcom Community College work with all types of non profits. But what exactly is service learning? There are many definitions, but Western Washington University’s Center for Service Learning has an encapsulating message: “Where scholarly service is the bridge uniting learning with social responsibility. Where community is the classroom, and the classroom is the community.”

The projects performed by service learning students include developing procedural manuals, conducting importance/satisfaction surveys, helping with fundraisers and pitching in for events like Make a Difference Day.

“Students bring energy, passion, new ideas and are often creative and fun to work with. They can also help with capacity building,” says Lisa Moulds, co-director of WWU’s Center for Service Learning. “The most successful projects are the ones that are well-planned, realistic and can be performed over the course of eight weeks.”

Organizations that are looking to work with service-learning students should develop a relationship with the appropriate faculty at either Western or Whatcom, says Lisa. This provides a better understanding of the organizations mission and goals.

In the 2008 Winter Quarter, Whatcom Volunteer Center worked with Dr. Perry’s students on developing a presence on Facebook.com, a popular online social networking utility that 84% of college students currently use.

“We wanted to engage college students in volunteerism by using emerging technology platforms,” says Megan Bedard, Outreach Coordinator for the Volunteer Center. “Working with the Comm 318 class was great. They really brought a lot to the table and made it easy for us to make the leap into a new project. Months later, we are still seeing the results of their hard work.”

Service learning students working with the Volunteer Center helped build the page, pitched the concept to packed lecture halls, created a video on volunteering and provided a workshop for other nonprofits on how to use online social networking.

“When we work on behalf of the community, we not only change our lives but the lives of others. It sounds corny, but in this way we really do change the world,” says Kyle Walsh, student leader of the Facebook project team.

If your organization is interested in learning more about working with service learning students, look for our workshop on this topic coming up this September. Check www.whatcomvolunteer.org for details. Date and time to be announced.