Reflection on Project

When first going into this project I had no idea what it was about, and what was going to happen. I was wondering, “What is service learning?” Well, now I know. Through the workshops and classroom experience I was able to find out and experience what Kindergartners, first graders and second graders experienced at Mosaic Academy.

            I went to Mosaic every Monday in the afternoon and helped the students in whatever they were getting their hands on for the day. When I first started working with the students they were trying to come up with ideas on how they could help the community. The class had many good ideas, and ideas that were so cute and adorable coming out of six-year olds mouth. They were really taking the brainstorming part of this project seriously. Then they came up with the idea of helping the Aztec Animal Shelter because they all love animals. They also decided to help out the Woofwood Rescue.

            Next part of the experience was coming up on how they were going to raise money for the programs. When one little boy said, “How about we sale crafts?” and that is what we did! The students started painting and drawing big pictures of nature. They also made lots of crafts, which for little children was very good. They made bird houses (nailed by them and with teacher help) and painted them. They also grew plants in their classroom and were able to get some donations of plants from local businesses. They wrote letters to local businesses asking for general donations (which were very cute!). They also made posters for advertisement for the plant and craft sale we decided to have in April.  The students worked very hard on their projects and took pride in their work which was great to see.

            We had the sale on Saturday, April 18^th, 2009 at Mosaic Academy. It was in the classroom and we transformed the classroom into and art gallery feel with the children’s work all over the walls. We had all the crafts and plants towards the middle of the room; we also sold ice cream and had a silent auction on a few items. The sale went great and we were able to raise fourteen-hundred dollars. We decided half of the money would go to the Aztec Animal Shelter and half of the money would go to the Wolfwood Rescue. I was amazed at how much we raised. The students had great work, but, it was five through eight year olds work, so I did wonder how well they would do. The students felt so proud of themselves and felt like they really accomplished something, and I think for most of the students, it was there first time.

            After this experience I think service-learning is necessary in education. When I first started the project I was hesitant, and probably did not have the most positive attitude about the project. I think it was just because it was a brand new thing for me as well as for the class. I have learned that though service-learning projects you are able to tie so much of your content to a real-world experience. I think not only does it make a difference in the lives of the students, but the parents, volunteers, and teacher. I have learned that although it takes a lot of work and time, service-learning projects change lives, it really does leave a legacy. I think it gives students a motivation for learning and for the teacher as well beyond of what is “required”. I had a great time with this class and I would not trade the experience for anything. I really want to implement service-learning projects into my future classroom because it helps everyone; not just academically but personally as well.