EMPOWERING STUDENT VOICE AND CHOICE THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING
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with, as well as learn from, their younger buddies, discovering that while they may be different in age they also have a lot in common. The project is student-driven, with students choosing the direction of the performance, making it an authentic, student-directed exploration of both history and humanity. As one fifth grader reflected,“ It felt really special to hear about the seniors’ lives and then get to share their stories with others.”
The Service Learning program at SF Friends School demonstrates the transformative power of student voice and choice. By empowering students to co-lead projects, make decisions, and engage with their broader community, we create opportunities for authentic learning and growth. The values of authenticity, reciprocity, and durability guide our work, ensuring that students make a meaningful, lasting impact. These projects also reflect the Quaker values of community and stewardship, which ground and guide our efforts.
“ The values of authenticity, reciprocity, and durability guide our work, ensuring that students make a meaningful, lasting impact.”
These are only a few of the many examples that exist K-8 at SFFS that center student voice and give them the agency to follow their interests and curiosity. Students not only gain valuable skills but also develop a deeper sense of responsibility for their community and the world around them. At SF Friends, service learning is more than just a program— it is a powerful tool for empowering students, fostering leadership, and creating lasting change in both the school and the broader community. •
Guybe Slangen was the Director of Community Engagement for 16 years at San Francisco Friends School. He has nearly three decades of experience in working with private schools and striving to make them a little less private, making them more engaged with and learning from their local communities. He serves on the board of the National Network of Schools in Partnership, a division of The Close Up Foundation. He has recently moved on from SFFS to become the Senior Director of Expansion at Horizons National( www. horizonsnational. org /), a nonprofit aimed at advancing educational equity by building long-term partnerships with students, families, communities, and schools to create experiences outside of school that inspire the joy of learning.
Page 26 Summer 2025 CSEE Connections