Community Service-Learning Program: Course Descriptions

Ardsley Project, CSAB I

The goal of the Ardsley project/class was to provide an on-site, multi-faceted program for approximately 60 homeless children, ranging in ages from 3-13 years, who were housed at the Inn Town Motel in Ardsley, New York. The program encompassed both educational and recreational activities designed to teach, enlighten, entertain and ultimately empower its participants: both volunteers and clients alike. Its design and execution created a safe, attractive and educational environment for all. Contact between the students and the children was scheduled on a monthly basis between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays. During non-contact weeks the volunteers devoted their time to organizational meetings regarding the mechanics (i.e. meal planning, workshop activities, trips, transportation, etc.) of the project. Once the prototype of the project was set, the founding students began to recruit and train future volunteers so that the project was constantly being enriched and expanded. The design of this project included aspects of safety and health, the environment, sports activities, a lending library, and an arts program which included theater, dance and arts and crafts activities. There were guiding themes unifying the activities of each scheduled day's set of on-site workshops conducted by the Fieldston volunteers (i.e. self-esteem, self-expression, community involvement, etc.). Community resources were drawn upon in order to execute the various specialized components to this project.

Henry Ittleson Residential Center, CSAB III

This project was designed to lessen the burdens of institutional living on children. Members of CSAB III work with children ages 5-12 at the Ittleson Home for the Emotionally Disturbed. Running programs of their own creation on a bi-weekly basis, the students organize activities for them in sports, arts & crafts, theater and music. The group also designs special events to bring back the joy of holidays which is often lost in institutions. Some examples: For Halloween the students provided costumes for the kids and arranged a party at Fieldston complete with trick-or-treating in the decorated classrooms and a constructed haunted house in a remote corridor. For Christmas the children made ornaments of natural materials and then were taken to the Bronx Botanical Gardens where they were given their own tree to decorate. Afterwards, they returned to the Fieldston School for an afternoon of singing, dancing, gingerbread house-making and lots of eating. Working with these children is often a challenge, but the students work hard, recognizing that what these kids most want and need is the personal connections that they offer. The CSAB'ers give their time, energy, creativity and lots of hugs to the thirty needy children at Ittleson.

A.C.T. tutoring & Mentoring Program, CSAB IV

The Community Service Advisory Board (CSAB) IV members work intently and intensively with the Adults & Children in Trust (ACT) program, a not-for-profit organization benefiting New York City's elementary school age children. During the after school programs at both P.S. 75 and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, CSAB makes up the core of the "Homework Help" initiative, interacts with the children in a non-academic setting, and helps coordinate the various fundraising and recreational events which ACT has become know for over the years. They have set many goals for themselves and for the program. As mentors, they hope to provide the individual attention many young people have gone without, due to overcrowding and poor facilities in New York City's public schools. Working one-on-one or in small groups with the children, CSAB lets kids know their value and worth as individuals, an idea that it is sometimes lost in a large group classroom setting. Because every child who attends the program has a parent who works long hours, CSAB also provides support and encouragement for children at a time of the day when parents are not available. Like all new projects, the group is just now seeing and acknowledging the vitality of positive outcomes. They hope this is only the beginning of a strong and productive partnership between the ACT program and Fieldston's Community Service-Learning program.

Each/Teach, CSAB V