I am in the process of posting all SL minigrant files to our Elgg District Service-Learning Leadership Team Files page. You can view them here:  http://elgg.link75.org/pg/file/group:43 

 

2/6/09 - Minigrant Committee: Please review and post comments to the following application submitted this week by Marianne Haughwout:

 

NEW: Harpswell Islands School Library Makeover

 

1/5/09 - Please see new minigrants added below:

 

1/4/2009 -After our DSLT meeting in December, I believe we agreed to post comments on 2 new mini grant proposals.

1.  "Humanities Instruction through Service Learning - Mackerel Cove"

We thought this project had potential but the specifics were weak and need to be refined.  Rather than just a day to act as pages in Augusta, we would like to see a stronger link to legislative advocacy as students work to address the pollution problem in Mackerel Cove.  We thought it might be better to schedule a brief meeting between the teachers and the DSLT to discuss our recommendations.

2.  "Latin Dance Benefit for the Dominican Republic"

I really like this project.  It looks engaging and fun for the students.  It is culturally sensitive, has a humanitarian focus, and also has a physical activity focus with the dancing. 

My only suggestion on the budget is to ask if the dance chaperones might be willing to donate their time?  I am not sure if this is a standard fee for security however so it may not be feasible.

I would like to ask the students to further their "service" reach and video tape the dancing lessons as they provide instruction to their peers.  I would like to see little segments put on line to assist us with our Districtwide Action Based Learning efforts.  I think these segments would appeal to students at MTA and be useful as we create a culture of movement.

THIS PROJECT IS SCHEDULED TO RUN THIS FRIDAY NIGHT SO IT NEEDS AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE.

Mary

 

1/4/2009- I was not able to attend the last meeting. I also cannot find the files for the new mini grant proposals. So, I'll use Mary's comments as a starting point.

1. I like the idea of discussing proposals with teachers as a way to refine both their and our understanding of how to continuously improve our ability to develop and support strong projects.

2. I am excited to see the Benefit for the Dominican Republic, too. It develops a new facet of an affiliation that is developing over several years. I strongly agree with Mary that it would be beneficial to extend their service to include documenting the activity in ways that will help members of our community to know the history of this project. Does the project need volunteer chaparones? What are  the qualifications?

Steve

 

NEW:  7SouthTeam-minigrant.pdf"Humanities Instruction through Service Learning - Mackerel Cove" revising request from: $2750.00 (TBD)

NEW: LatinDanceBenefit.pdf - MTA - Approved January 5, 2009 for $425.00 (Candace was contacted regarding comments and questions above)

NEW: StreamTeam.pdf - Bowdoin Central School - approved January 22, 2009 for $618

 

CathanceRiverApplication.pdf - MTA - Approved 11/20/08 for $1020.00

 

Cathance River Project. – I have one concern/question and that is “How will the students know if they have succeeded or met their goal?” There needs to be some sort of end of project yard stick or reflection piece that informs the work. To make things easy for the students, I suggest intercept interviews with elementary students and community members since they are the ones the project is targeting. The interview can be as simple 3 questions that query whether or not the interviewee is aware of the Preserve, have they been there, and do they think it is an important place.

Mary

GrandFriends-minigrant.pdf - Approved 11/20/08 for $500

 

Grand Friends Project – I really like this project and think it looks good to continue as it is.

At the last Service Learning meeting there was mention of this project continuing into 6th grade, but is not mentioned here. Should the grant be amended if that is the case?

George

The idea that this project is growing and extending into the Middle School excites me. Thanks for reminding us here. -

Steve

 

 

GreenTeamminigrant.pdf - Approved 11/20/08 for $418. 45

 

This grant is similar to the grant written by the 5th graders at Bowdoin Central last year. It would be great if there could be an opportunity for those 5th graders to talk with Woodside's fifth graders about lessons learned and how to make the process even more meaningful to all involved.

George

Was the Bowdoin Central Project a documented project? Where is the documentation? Can we put it in a place where others could find it and link to it? Let's try to find ways that we can help students connect.

Steve

 

 

I would like to see a Service Learning link on Bowdoin Central School's website to show all the projects going on there! Terry

 

Section C. Student Ownership - the students who are now in 5th grade stated that they will still be involved in the project next year as 6th graders by coming back to help the 5th graders build the compost. 

 

COMPOST price quote, Hancock Lumber.pdf

 

Green Team – I LOVE this project and the quote from the student is actually an evaluation piece to the Cathance River Project above (the High School students should know the impact of the work they are doing and I am not sure if they do or not). I would love to see this project become a model project and have WES connect with MAMS and MTA so we could establish this behavior vertically. This may be more of a prompt to the teachers as they guide the students.