Public schools are held to legal and ethical principles to provide the
best possible educational environment for the students of the district.
The children of the district have the inherent right to a free and appropriate
education, an education that enables our students to become valued, contributing
members of a changing global society. It is clear that the most critical
action that must take place is bridging the gap between the school, the
students, their families, and the community. This action must take place
in order to meet the rising educational standards; but more importantly,
these actions must take place for the well-being of the children in the
community and the well-being of the community as a whole.
At Muskogee Public Schools, we believe that Athletics are an integral
and impacting component of this process. In a survey, the Minnesota State
High School League found that 91% of high school students that said they
participated in school activities tend to be school leaders and role models;
92% said that school activities provides an opportunity not found in regular
classroom setting to develop self-discipline (National Federation of State
High School Associations, NFHS, 2006). The NFHS (2006) sponsored a national
survey, in cooperation with the National Association of Secondary School
Principals (NASSP), of high school principals in all 50 states. The results
of the survey revealed the following:
?
99% agreed participation in high school activities promotes citizenship.
?
72% said there is strong support for school activity programs from parents
and the community.
The research seems to reveal that extracurricular activities are highly
valued.
A service-learning program is currently being
implemented on the Rougher Football Team, and it attempts to address
various needs within
the district. “Service-learning
is an educational strategy involving youth programming encompassing a philosophy
of youth empowerment” (Nelson & Eckstein, 2008). Service-learning
extends beyond the classroom and into the community (Nelson & Eckstein,
2008). Projects include, but are not limited to: tutoring programs for
younger students, assistance for senior citizens, neighborhood renovations,
and anti-poverty programs.
Kolb (1984) defines learning as a process that
creates knowledge through the transformation of experience. Service
learning provides these
experiences.
Dewey (1938) contends that education is not merely for the sake of intellect,
but that education is tied to social action and progress. Service learning
provides opportunity for this link to social action. Contemporary research
on the impact and effectiveness of service learning is extensive. Participation
in service learning can foster civic responsibility (Smith, 2008). Service
learning programs have shown positive impacts on students in the academic
domain, civic domain, personal/social domain, and career exploration skills
(Billig, 2004). Service learning experiences foster students’ personal
and moral growth, and service learning increases their sense of empathy
and responsibility toward other members of society (Stavrianopoulos, 2008).
RAD (Roughers Aiding the District) is the service
learning program being implemented within the football program. The
purpose of RAD is
to address
the needs of the district, students, and community. The first component
that the program hopes to address is academic development. “Since
service-learning is integrated into and enhances the curricula of academic
subjects, the program helps students acquire knowledge and skills that
are needed to understand learning objectives” (Nelson & Eckstein,
2008). The second component that the program intends to impact is career
development. “Service learning integrates career development into
the classroom through ‘hands-on’ experience and self-discovery.
Students work side-by-side with community partners and learn firsthand
about careeropportunities and the skills necessary to pursue those opportunities” (Nelson & Eckstein,
2008). The third component that the program will push to improve is personal
and social development. “Students feel validated, worthwhile, and
self-confident… Students also learn to listen to and respect other
viewpoints, ways of working, and differences in thinking about the world” (Nelson & Eckstein,
2008). Previous research in service learning has shown improvements in
these three components, and the implementation of RAD will lay the groundwork
for similar growth.
RAD is a proactive and preventative program suited for the constantly
changing district and community. Service learning is, simply put, for all
people. The program aims to benefit the students in their academic development,
career development, self discovery, personal development, and social development.
The program aims to benefit the community by providing human resources
to meet needs of the local community, allowing for the energy and enthusiasm
of high school student athletes to contribute to meeting needs, and fostering
an ethic of service and civic participation in these student athletes,
under the assumption that they will be future volunteers and civic leaders
of the local community.
Aside from measurable statistics and data produced
by public school districts, there are prevalent stigmas and reputations
that each school
district carries.
What makes some school districts better than others; or, rather, why are
some school districts perceived as better than others? Certainly, the data
plays a significant role: graduation rates, test scores, course offerings,
demographics, qualified teachers, etc. Unfortunately, these variables are
susceptible to drastic shifts and change. There must be more; it cannot
be denied that there are other contributing factors, often intangible,
that build and sustain a school district’s reputation.
Some feel that it is the overall image of the
school projected by the school district newsletter and media coverage.
Others feel that
it is based
on the test scores of graduates. Still others think that an aura, evolved
over the years, continues, even though in reality the quality of that school
has changed. (Bagin, Gallagher, & Moore, 2008)
Change in the variables is a guarantee; some of
the changes benefit the school, and some changes unfortunately do not.
The aura perceived
in the
community is something that can be developed, increased, and maintained
at a high level, regardless of change. If the goal is to increase the aura,
then a detailed plan to improve the community’s relationship with
the district is needed. “A plan must be developed for community relations
or little will happen,” (Bagin et al., 2008). RAD is the beginning
of that plan for Rougher Football.
If you are interested in having the Roughers serve you, or if you have
suggestions or ideas of areas that we can serve, please contact me.
Thanks,
Coach Josh Blankenship
(918) 684-3797
josh-blankenship@mpsi20.org
References
Bagin, D., Gallagher, D. R., & Moore, E.H.
(2008). The school and community relations ?(9th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Billig, S. (2004). Heads, hearts, hands: The research on K-12 service-learning.
National Youth Leadership Council, Growing to Greatness 2004 (pp. 12-25).
St. Paul, MN: NYLC. Retrieved February 6, 2009, from http://www.nylc.org/objects/inaction/initiatives
/g2g2005/G2G2005.pdf
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. New York: Macmillan.
Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as a Source of Learning
and Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
National Federation of State High School Associations (2006). Retrieved
from http://www.nfhs. org/
Nelson. J & Eckstein, D. (2008). A service
learning model for at-risk adolescents. Education and Treatment of
Children, 31(2),
223-237. Retrieved
February 7, 2009, from ERIC database.
Smith, M. (2008). Does service learning promote adult development? Theoretical
perspectives and directions for research. New Directions for Adult and
Continuing Education, 118, 5-15. Retrieved February 7, 2009, from ERIC
database.
Stavrianopoulos, K. (2008). Service learning within the freshman year
experience. College student Journal, 42 (2),703-712. Retrieved February
7, 2009, from ERIC database.
