Student Service-Learning

All Maryland students must complete a student service requirement in order to earn a high school diploma. Students must complete at least 75 hours of service.

Maryland embraces the Learning in Deed definition of service-learning:

Service-learning is a teaching method that combines meaningful service to the community with curriculum-based learning. Students improve their academic skills by applying what they learn in school to the real world; they then reflect on their experience to reinforce the link between their service and their learning.

— Maryland’s Seven Best Practices of Service-Learning
All service-learning experiences should meet all of the Maryland’s Seven Best Practices of Service-Learning.

1. Address a recognized need in the community.
2. Achieve curricular objectives through service-learning.
3. Reflect throughout the service-learning experience.
4. Develop student responsibility.
5. Establish community partnerships.
6. Plan ahead for service-learning.
7. Equip students with knowledge and skills needed for civic engagement.

— High Quality Standards: Preparation, Action, and Reflection
All service-learning experiences must include academic preparation, service activities, and structured reflection.

PREPARATION

• • Identify an educational project that supports a community need.
  • Explore why it is important to perform the service activity.
  • Specify specific knowledge and skills needed.
  • Set expectations and objectives of the service.
  • Identify the adult who will train, supervise, and guide the student.

ACTION

• • Direct Service is when students have face-to-face contact with the service recipient. Examples include visiting persons in a nursing home or a hospital, caring for pets in an animal shelter, and serving in a food kitchen.
  • Indirect Service is when students perform a service without having face-to-face contact with the recipient. Examples include collections, fundraisers, and clean-ups.
  • Advocacy is when students educate others about a particular issue with the goal being to eliminate the cause of a particular problem. Examples include writing letters to government officials and preparing educational materials.

REFLECTION

• • Consider the need that was addressed and how the service impacted the community.
  • Assess what worked well and what could have been improved.
  • Evaluate about what was accomplished and what was learned from this experience.

* Adapted from MSDE’s Preparation, Action, Reflection.

— The Process

Students may begin to earn SSL hours in Grade 6. Students will continue to accrue hours throughout middle school and high school.

Step 1:  Get pre-approved. All service-learning activities must first be approved by the campus-based SSL Coordinator. Review and prepare for the activity with your SSL Coordinator. Acquire necessary forms and obtain signature approving the service-learning experience.

Download and print the following forms:

Step 2:  Perform the service-learning activity. At the end of the activity, complete forms in their entirety and obtain necessary signatures. The site supervisor of the service-learning activity will need to verify service and sign forms as well before hours can be counted.

Step 3:  Return completed Student Service-Learning Activity Verification and the Student Service-Learning Timesheet forms to the campus-based SSL Coordinator according to the following timelines:

• • Students who complete a service-learning activity during the school year have one week (7 days) after the last day of the service-learning activity to turn in the form.

• • Students who complete a service-learning activity during the summer have one week (7 days) after the first day of school to turn in the form.

— Sample Student Service-Learning (SSL) Activities

• After School Program (ASP)
• Athletic Team Manager
  • Middle School: maximum of 15 hours – a one-time opportunity
  • High School: maximum of 30 hours – a one-time opportunity
• Summer Camps
• Events
• Non-Profit Organizations
  • Animal Shelters
  • Shelters/Soup Kitchens
  • MSD’s Athletic Booster Club, Inc.

— Meritorious Service

MSD students who earn 150 hours or more will be recognized with a certificate of meritorious service and a purple cord to be worn at graduation.

— State SSL Resources

Information about service-learning in Maryland, available resources, project ideas, and service-learning contacts around the state are available on the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) website.

For more information, review the Maryland Service-Learning Guidelines online.