Building Character Through Community Service

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Service learning is a critical component of any successful character education program... Our youth need to appreciate that democratic and caring communities are places where individuals can share the mutual benefits of trust. Oftentimes educators are held back by the lack of time to put a community service action plan together. Building Character Through Community Service is the how-to, nuts-and-bolts reference classroom teachers and character education coordinators need to put a class or schoolwide community service day project into action without any further delay. Marge Rizzo's and Joyce Brown's volume should find itself onto the reference desk of every educator who wants to develop youth of good character who not only know what good choices are, but 'love the good' and who actually will 'walk the talk' and make a positive difference in the adult world. -- John Walko, Ph.D., director of the Academy for Character Education, The Sage Colleges, Troy, New York This guide really provides the step-by-step process for reaching out into the community with a large-scale project. While the focus is on a single-day experience, the shear magnitude of having hundreds of students from the same school, on the same day, participating in a community service experience provides infinite possibilities for developing character along with applied academic skills! -- Merle J. Schwartz, Ed.D., director of education and research, Character Education Partnership, Washington, DC Building Character through Community Service is a must-read for any teacher contemplating a service learning project. This book is a complete guide to the planning and preparation needed to conduct a successful service learning project. Sample letters, project timelines, and suggestions to make the process as easy as possible are organized into a step-by-step outline by teachers who have conducted successful programs for years. -- Ron Coleman, director of student programs, New York State Council on Leadership and Student Activities/Magellan