A range of service-learning projects is offered
The website of Malcolm Shabazz gives examples of twenty-nine different service-learning projects, ranging from a video about teenage pregnancy to a botany class's work at a local arboretum. There are two required classes that all Shabazz students take, both of which include service components. One is a quarter-long orientation to the school, covering such topics as school policies, learning styles, and the life of Malcolm X, the school's namesake. The class culminates with students developing projects about non-harassment to share with sixth graders at a nearby elementary school.
The other required class, Mirrors of Discrimination, extends some of the ideas of the orientation by going into more depth on such societal ills as racism and sexism. Again, students are required to teach local elementary students about an issue of discrimination. The latter class came about in the past decade during a period when Madison was experiencing a series of hate crimes. Students suggested such a class was necessary and it has been a requirement ever since.
Several other ongoing service-learning projects at the school were created by students. One class, for example, rebuilds old computers and donates them to various organizations and individuals in the community; more than 120 computers have been donated so far. And Social Justice, a class that studies various disabilities and which has a service component, was initiated by a blind student.
Community-student partnerships
Hammat-Kalvaloski says that the school has become well enough known for its service projects that organizations and local officials sometimes approach her with ideas for student projects. Recently, Madison's mayor asked for Shabazz students to be involved in discussions about how to make the downtown more friendly to young people. Students walked the downtown, met with business people, city officials, and the police, studied urban planning, and made recommendations.
Projects that include students with people and groups with whom they might not otherwise have contact have been especially beneficial to students in terms of broadening their global understanding and tolerance, says Hammat-Kalvaloski.
She stresses that whether you're working with the classroom across the hall, or via Internet with kids around the globe, service-learning projects can have real impact on students and schools. Given Shabazz's relative flexibility in scheduling and taking students off-campus, she is aware that it's easier for her colleagues to promote service-learning. She advises service-learning neophytes to "think small and deep." Those first baby steps may just turn into a decade-long project!
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