Engaging Federal
Agency Programs in
Service-Learning
Finding the forest
by involving all the trees
Advisory Council on Historic
Preservation
♦
Independent federal agency created by
National Historic Preservation Act
♦
Advises President and Congress on
historic preservation matters
♦
Oversees Section 106 process
♦
Reviews federal agency historic
preservation programs and policies
♦
Provides & encourages education &
training
♦
Encourages public interest and
participation in preservation
ACHP Federal Agency Membership
♦
Department of Agriculture
♦
Department of the Interior
♦
Architect of the Capitol
♦
Department of Commerce
♦
Department of Defense
♦
Department of Education
♦
Department of Housing & Urban Development
♦
Department of Transportation
♦
Department of Veterans Affairs
♦
General Services Administration
♦
Observers
♦
Department of Homeland Security
♦
Environmental Protection Agency
Definition
♦ Service-Learning
is a teaching
and learning strategy that
integrates meaningful
community service with
instruction and reflection to
enrich the learning experience,
teach civic responsibility, and
strengthen communities.
Service-Learning characteristics
Students are empowered participants
Schools/curricula are involved
Real community needs are met
Meaningful reflection on the experience
Authentic experience outside classroom
A Forest for Every Classroom
♦
Green Mountain National Forest
♦
Shelburne Farms
♦
Conservation Study Institute
♦
National Wildlife Federation
♦
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical
Park
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
120 Vermont teachers -- 500-600 teachers altogether
Spread to New Hampshire, Montana, Texas
Coming soon to Wisconsin and Michigan
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
A Watershed for Every Classroom – Lake Champlain
New York, Vermont, Quebec
A Park for Every Classroom – next spring in New England
A Trail to Every Classroom
♦
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
♦
National Park Service
♦
230 teachers to date with 53 starting this year
♦
15,000 students involved
♦
From all 14 trail states
♦
Iditarod National Historic Trail
♦
Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
♦
New England National Scenic Trail
Of the Student, By the
Student, For the Student
♦
Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership
♦
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
♦
Harpers Ferry Middle School
Of the Student….
♦
National Endowment for the Humanities
♦
13 National Park units
♦
7 public school systems
♦
78 student-generated vodcasts
♦
Official interpretive NPS material
Of the Student …
♦
Harpers Ferry – John Brown Raid October 1859 (Pilot Project)
♦
First Manassas – July 1861
♦
Balls Bluff – October 1861
♦
Second Manassas – August 1862
♦
Harpers Ferry – September 1862
♦
Antietam – December 1862
♦
Fredericksburg – December 1862
♦
Chancellorsville – April/May 1863
♦
Gettysburg – July 1863
♦
Williamsport -- July 1863
♦
Wilderness – May 1864
♦
Spotsylvania Courthouse – May 1864
♦
Monocacy – July 1864
♦
Appomattox Courthouse – April 1865
From the Youth Report
Today’s youth spend most of their time at
school or in formal afterschool programs, and
increasingly less and less of it is spent
outdoors. Although you had outdoor recess
during elementary school, by high school you
are often in closed campuses. You expressed a
hunger for environmental education and a
desire to learn about our country’s cultural and
historic resources, like the national battlefields
and monuments that you told us, “bring history
alive.”
From the Youth Report
You cited a lack of coordination at the national,
state, and local level as a key barrier to
engaging volunteers in conservation activities
on public and private lands and waters. You
said that the federal government must work
better with partners to increase opportunities
for outdoor service, and train and help manage
a robust, multi-generational volunteer corps.
Expanding public-private partnerships for
service, you said, will improve the quality of our
lands and waters, enhance local economies,
bring communities together, and promote
greater appreciation for the great outdoors.
Quotes from the Youth Report
“Things that take place in the outside world are
things that really exist. Things that take place
inside the classroom exist in a textbook. We
need to be able to connect … Being outside is a
real experience as opposed to textbooks in a
classroom.”
“These places are different from ‘parks and
recreation’ outdoor spaces. Historical sites
don’t force you to learn, but provide a place to
learn and social space – a place to
communicate, connect, and be social.”
THE service-learning quote
from the Youth Report
“School and social time takes
up so much time that there
isn’t free time for [young
people] to spend outside,
and schools have stopped
taking them outside for
coursework.”
AGO – Youth ideas
♦
Expand outdoor education programs to engage
more young people in hands-on, place-based
learning.
♦
Provide more opportunities for kids to get
outside during the school day, through
curriculum-based activities, service-learning
projects, and outdoor recess and P.E.
♦
Link outdoor professionals, including park and
forest rangers, to local school districts to
educate teachers and students on the
significance of their natural and cultural
surroundings, and inspire them to get out and
explore the outdoors.
AGO – Youth ideas, cont’d
♦
Increase cultural literacy and cultivate civic
pride by helping families and school groups
visit historic sites and landscapes.
♦
Leverage grants and other existing resources to
make it easier and more affordable for school
groups to access public and private lands.
♦
Use mentor and ambassador programs to bring
young people outdoors and teach them the
skills necessary to connect with and enjoy
nature.
♦
Increase outdoor learning experiences in native
schools, and incorporate more lessons about
sacred sites and practices.
Youthgo.gov
Travelers Rest National Historic Landmark reclamation
Great Falls Portage National Historic Landmark
National Forests and Grasslands
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service –
National Wildlife Refuges
Bureau of Land Management Areas
National Heritage Areas
49 National Heritage Areas:
40 areas as of 2008
9 new areas in 2009
National Park Service Areas
National Scenic and Historic Trails