It is extremely important to prepare students for the
service-learning journey ahead.
One cannot expect anyone to magically put on his or her “hero” hat and
embark on a journey to serve others.
Collaboration and teamwork is much more powerful than individual
“heroism” and this can only be achieved via preparation and service learning
itself and at home. We are not seeking “heroism”, what we are seeking is to
rethink education and our world via service learning.
Moreover, this entire journey is a teaching and learning
social activism and leadership process that needs to start before the actual
trip and become a life long odyssey.
We want our students to realize their full potentials, re-imagine
themselves, New Orleans and the world so they can make a difference in a
globalized and unified community and bring this new social justice lens and
leadership to our city, our neighborhoods and our school.
The Preparation:
All of the 14 students who are participating in this trip have committed to either
volunteering once a weak as a writing tutor at the Trotter Elementary School in
Roxbury or volunteering on Saturdays at the Habitat for Humanity’s Boston
Re-Store in West Roxbury. The
students and I will also be working with the local Habitat for Humanity to help
build a home for one day in March.
The students who want
to embark in the journey to Recife, Brazil in 2015 will have to do the same
from March 2014 to March 2015.
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