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Service

Service Learning Program
Pace Service Projects
US Service Learning
MS Service Learning
LS Character Ed
Service Learning Philosophy

 

Pace Academy’s Service Learning program cultivates a sense of social and ethical responsibility in students and advances experiential aspects of the learning process. Service Learning is more than community service or volunteerism; done properly, it links education to service and service to learning.

 

The Pace Service Learning program has three main components:

  • Co-curricular activities focusing on outreach and long-term community building through partnerships.
  • Developing awareness of the needs and the resources that can help meet those needs within the greater Atlanta community.
  • Academic reflection on the process, impact and meaning of service.
Director of Service Learning: Trish Anderson tanderson@paceacademy.org
Co-Curricular Activities

 

Service Learning co-curricular activities for the Middle and Upper schools are developed through the Pace Partners Program.

 

Pace Partners is a student leadership network that promotes the community outreach aspect of the Service Learning program. More than 40 student service leaders organize partnerships with 12 local agencies on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis. These long-term partnerships allow the students to develop relationships with the people with whom they work. The relationships that students build with the agencies are the cornerstone of the Pace Partners Service Learning program.

 

Middle and Upper school students can sign up for these organized, chaperoned and student-led opportunities. These after-school and evening projects are in place to help students learn more about themselves in the context of non-profit agencies that serve their neighbors in the greater Atlanta community.

 

Students may also earn service learning hours by volunteering at non-profit agencies of their own choosing. To receive credit for their service, students must provide a letter (hard copy or email) from the volunteer director of the agency indicating how many hours of service the student volunteered along with a brief description of what the student accomplished.

 

Middle School students must report their hours to Ms. Kathie Larkin. Upper School students must report their hours to Ms. Trish Anderson.

Developing Awareness

Service Learning at Pace creates awareness of the needs and resources of the greater Atlanta community through a series of special projects and one-day events. Students can earn hour-for-hour credit for the work they complete. Special projects include participating with community advocacy walks and runs, managing independent fundraisers, and organizing the Middle School Service Learning Day in October and the Upper School Service Learning day in April. Students also participate in a series of holiday projects such as Adopt-A-Family, Adopt-A-Classroom, and Adopt-An-Apartment.
Academic Reflection

The Service Learning program at Pace is committed to fostering significant learning through service. The Service Learning program seeks specifically to teach students to understand the privileges and responsibilities of our democratic society and to prepare them for effective citizenship in the global community. The program does not seek so much to encourage "volunteerism" as it does to foster critical reflection on service. By examining their experiences of service, students can cultivate a clearer understanding of civic engagement; develop an appreciation of the various institutional, economic, political and religious values that shape our society; and apply many of the skills learned in their classrooms in specific and concrete ways. The goal is to find ways to authentically integrate service into a wide array of curriculum. It has been shown that connecting service and learning in this way increases student enthusiasm and motivation to learn and enhances overall student academic life.
Service Learning News
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