Washington, D.C.- Education is “the unlocking of the human imagination,” and service-learning is the tool to achieve that goal, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., told several hundred educators and community representatives yesterday as they gathered to mark the 15th anniversary of Learn and Serve America.

Kennedy addressed the gathering after receiving one of two Congressional Founder’s Awards presented at the session. The other was given to former Senator David F. Durenberger, a Minnesota Republican who was instrumental in passage of legislation establishing Learn and Serve America. Awards were also presented to Carol Kinsley and Dottie Johnson, two longtime Corporation board members who’ve been champions of the work of Learn and Serve. Click here for a full list of awards presented.

Service-learning, an education method that combines academic study with community service, is growing in the number of participating schools. In 1984, only 9 percent of high schools participated; by 1999, a U.S. Department of Education survey found that 46 percent of high schools, and 32 percent of schools overall, offered service-learning.

Speakers at the 15th Anniversary Symposium commented on the remarkable growth of service-learning, and looked ahead to the future. One panel looked at ways to build sustainable funding sources for service-learning. The day also featured a performance by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary, who led the audience in songs that inspired Civil Rights activists, and a gala reception at the end of the day.

“As Learn and Serve America turns 15, we can say with certainty that service learning is good for young people, good for communities, and good for America,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “This is a proud and living legacy, and it belongs to everyone here.”

Eisner noted that the Corporation’s five-year year strategic plan makes the expansion of service-learning one of its key policy goals. The plan, unanimously approved by the agency’s board this fall, set as national goals that by 2010, 5 million college students will be engaged in service and more than half of America’s K-12 schools will have incorporated service-learning into their curricula.

“More and more schools are embracing service-learning as a way to strengthen academic achievement and increase the civic habits of their students,” said Amy Cohen, Director of Learn and Serve America. “Thanks to the hard work of teachers and administrators and advocates across the country, there is a great deal of momentum and a bright future for service-learning in America.”

The symposium was part of a three-day conference of grantees from the Learn and Serve America program that was kicked off the day before with the release of new federal study about teen volunteering. First Lady Laura Bush announced the study while visiting a Washington D.C. service-learning project supported by Learn and Serve America. The national study, conducted by the Corporation for National and Community Service in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and Independent Sector, found that 15.5 million teenagers volunteered during 2004, contributing more than 1.3 billion hours of service. That translates into a rate of 55 percent compared to the adult volunteer rate of 29 percent as established by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A copy of the study can be found at http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/role_impact/performance_research.asp.

Kathy Havens Payne of State Farm Insurance, a major corporate supporter of service-learning, believes that service-learning is the solution to addressing the achievement gap—the large minority of underachieving students in this country. “We have to find strategies for kids who aren’t being reached” by service-learning, she said. Corporate funders will be more likely to participate if service-learning practitioners can demonstrate how corporate involvement can relate to the needs of a particular industry. State Farm, for example, funds focuses on projects that teach safe driving skills to teenagers and other issues that impact on the insurance industry.

To ensure the future of service-learning, its practitioners must stress increasing its relevance to classroom teachers who are required to focus on requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, according to Jason Willis, a former service-learning student who is now working on a school evaluation project. “Service-learning needs to be more closely connected with the classroom and teachers’ goals for that setting,” he said.

Learn and Serve America 15th Anniversary Symposium and Celebration Awards

Founder’s Awards

Jim Kielsmeier National Youth Leadership Council
Alan Melchior Brandeis University
Shirley Sagawa Sagawa Jospin
Susan Stroud Innovations in Civic Participation

Board Support Awards

Dorothy Johnson Corporation for National and Community Service Board of Directors
Carol Kinsley Corporation for National and Community Service Board of Directors

Congressional Founder’s Awards

David F. Durenberger Former United States Senator, R- Minnesota
Edward M. Kennedy United States Senator, D- Massachusetts

Inspirational Spirit Award

Cathryn Berger Kaye National Service-Learning Consultant

Learn and Serve America is one of three programs administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service that provide opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country. The others are Senior Corps and AmeriCorps. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. For more information, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov.

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