A HELPING HAND

IUL 101-LA3-141
NATASHA L CLIMENS
ERNEST L MADKINS
SHEILA D BOWSER
CORDELL CARTER

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 (Learn and Serve
America National Service Learning Clearinghouse).

Migration
The movement of people to
a new area or country in
order to find work, better
educational opportunities,
or better living conditions.
Our service learning
program targets the
children involved in this
migration. It is our hope
that our project will help
them have a smoother
transition into American
society.

The Northern Virginia area has become an

ending destination for many of those migrating
from Mexico. The school systems are
struggling to handle the influx of students with
a limited mastery of the English language. The
influx of Spanish speaking students, and the
teachers need for additional help are a real
issue for the community. The teachers simply
dont have enough instructional hours to teach
English, and the district lacks the funds. Our
plan is to start an after school English support
program. This program will provide students
with additional help in their mastery of the
English language, and also foster community
involvement. The educational component will
draw from a proven program, Supporting
English Language Learners in After School
Programs. They have a four prong strategy
that has been successfully implemented in
many school districts across the nation.

Bucknell Elementary School was selected, due to the

population growth of the Hispanic community in Alexandria,
Virginia.

Activities
Classroom work.

Bilingual speakers from the community

Field Trips

Classroom Activities
To
Handouts to help with English
comprehension.
Label various everyday items
to help those that are visual
learners.
English chat time which will
allow the students to practice
the language.

Field Trips
Fields trips to events like plays,
sporting events , and museums to
offer the students a taste of
American culture. We will encourage
the families to participate to help
them learn about the American
culture.

Bilingual Speakers
Invite successful local community
leaders to speak to the children. Its
important that they see successful
people that they can identify with.

Helping Hand Benefits

From this experience, we will gain how to communicate with other people
and gain satisfaction from helping Hispanics learn the English language. This
service learning project will provide us with a sense of self worth and self
esteem. This experience gave us better communication skills, organizational
skills, collaboration skills, and leadership skills. We also increased our critical
thinking and problem solving skills. The skills that we developed and
enhanced during this service learning project will also benefit us in our future
career endeavors. Our civic duty will help integrate new immigrants into the
American society and improve the communication barriers in our society.

Projected Service Learning Outcomes

A meaningful outcome for this service learning project would be that the
Hispanic community will master the English language and utilize the
information learned to help other immigrants learn English.
We wanted to bridge the gap between the Hispanic community and other
ethnic groups in the community.
It is our hope that the members of the team would come away with handson experience of having actually participated in helping a group of people
who were having difficulty adjusting to their new environment to make the
transition much easier.

Benefits of Being Involved

Networking
Hearing and understanding different view
points
Working with a diverse group of people
Solving problems
Utilizing our critical thinking skills
Teamwork
Addressing and identifying issues that
occur in our society
Developing positive relationships between
the community and school

Helped immigrants integrate into the

American society.

Effects on Personal Development

Psychological Benefits

We explored and acted on our values and beliefs.

Social Benefits
Understand diverse cultures.
Cognitive Benefits
Developed problem solving skills.
Political and Civic Benefits
Support candidates that share our beliefs and support the migration issues in our community.
Exposure of Diversity
Helped us be open minded.
We had the opportunity to work a variety of social and cultural identities with similar goals and ambitions.
Multiculturalism Benefits
We acknowledged and treasured being exposed to other cultures and differing view points, backgrounds, and
values.

Our involvement in the community service project

reinforced the need to be involved in the political process.
Dealing with local and national government offices exposed
the gridlock that programs such as ours face. We need to
become involved and support candidates who express a
desire to champion our causes.

Academic Skills and Knowledge Acquired

Research and Investigation
Networking
Internships
Budgeting and Accounting Skills

A Helping Hand
The helping Hand Service learning project provided the Hispanic children an opportunity
to integrate into the American Society by learning the English language.
We utilized several approaches like Supporting English Language Learners in Afternoon
School Programs, field trips, bilingual speakers, and classroom work to help them master
the English language.
This program bridged the gap between the Hispanic community and other ethnic groups.
The service learning project members helped a group of people who were having difficulty
adjusting to their new environment to make the transition to American Life much easier.
Over the course of the week the children blossomed and the children exceeded our
wildest expectations.

References
Definition of Service Learning. ( 2014 November 17). Retrieved from http://
www.uncfsu.edu/civic-engagement/service-learning/definition-of-service-learning