By Hadley Zeavin La Jolla Country Day School • La Jolla , CA
Belonging in Service-Learning
One of the beautiful parts of service-learning is that it provides an exceptional opportunity for students to examine and understand the systemic challenges of our world as they engage with their communities . While many adults may think societal inequities are too large a concept for our youngest learners , as independent school educators we know that it is often our youngest learners who have the most open hearts and the most uncanny ability to grasp challenging concepts . As the Director of Service-Learning and Experiential Education at La Jolla Country Day School , I have the privilege of working with all our PK-12th grade students . I have chosen to focus here on one example from each division — Lower , Middle , and Upper School — of a service-learning unit that encourages our students to engage with concepts of equity and belonging .
Lower School
Our third-grade partners with Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego throughout the school year for their service-learning project . Pre-pandemic , students would take a tour of Ronald McDonald House as a grade level , and each class would visit to serve ice cream and do an art project with the siblings currently living at RMHC . While our involvement looks different because RMHC prioritized the health and safety of their residents during the pandemic , we are still able to take virtual field trips and put together welcome bags .
Page 6 Summer 2022 CSEE Connections