BELONGING IN SERVICE-LEARNING
Continued from page 7 Middle School
While I would never be able to pick a favorite student , I have a much easier time picking a favorite service-learning project . Mine is “ Camp Habitat ” that is now in its sixth year at La Jolla Country Day School with our fifth-grade students . Arguably the most exhausting two days of my year ( and our amazing fifth-grade team ’ s year !) they are also two of the most rewarding days . We have been fortunate to partner with San Diego Habitat for Humanity for this amazing project that came into existence my first year at LJCDS thanks to the hard work of Linnea Lagerstrom , me , and the former assistant head of our middle school , Brooke Laundon .
The project itself involves building playhouses which are then donated to either Habitat for Humanity homeowners , military families , or Head Start programs in San Diego County . Students are given a theme
( chosen by the recipient ), and Habitat delivers pre-cut wood ( 4 walls , 2 roof panels , a floor panel , a door , and two shutters for each window ), nails , screws , paint , brushes , rollers , drills , hammers , and wood glue . In terms of valuable life skills , students learn to use a drill and hammer , often for the first time , and have the opportunity to put their creativity and fine arts skills to use in designing and painting the playhouses . Prior to the playhouse days , fifth-grade science teacher Stephanie Heinrich ties in the project to their climate unit in discussions about what types of homes can be built in what types of climates .
The classroom portion of this program involves discussing the mission of Habitat for Humanity and the importance of home ownership . This can be a complex topic for our fifth-grade students to grasp , and they do an excellent job when we tie home ownership to generational wealth . One of the ways we talk about generational wealth
Page 8 Summer 2022 CSEE Connections