Building Character Through Community Service: Strategies to Implement the Missing Element in Education

The authors of this book are a middle school librarian and a family and consumer science teacher. For the past ten years, the two have coordinated a community service day at their school. This guide lays out that same process using task lists, worksheets, sample letters, and activities, for educators hoping to implement day-long or ongoing service learning projects. Coverage includes researching and contacting agencies, choosing student and faculty leaders, soliciting chaperones, arranging transportation, and publicizing the project. One chapter contains ten lessons for student preparedness, which include a discussion of the behavioral expectations of volunteers, and activities involving interviewing a volunteer and designing a logo. The following chapters contain materials for executing projects both in the community and in the school, activities for follow-up education, and advice for planning for the next year. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Margaret Rizzo has been a middle school library media specialist for more than three decades. For several years, she also served as District Department Chair of the Library Media Department. During her time in the middle school, she co-advised the National Junior Honor Society and organized many community service activities for middle school students. Joyce Brown has taught family and consumer science for the past thirty and is a member of the New York State Association of Family and Consumer Science Educators. Both authors have coordinated a middle school community service day for the past ten years. They are also coadvisors for the National Junior Honor Society, an organization that promotes character, leadership, scholarship, and service to the community.