Service Learning Ventures to Washington D.C.
Elective class received the Students in Action Bay Area Region Award on their trip to the Capitol
By Catherine Dayton and Emily Guerra
Elective class received the Students in Action Bay Area Region Award on their trip to the Capitol
By Catherine Dayton and Emily Guerra
For the first time, the Service Learning class won a trip to Washington D.C., where they were given the opportunity to meet other service learning groups from across the nation. At this meeting, Service Learning was presented with their first award, the Students in Action Bay Area Region Award.
Due to service learning being offered as a class, as opposed to other schools offering it as a group or club, they had the advantage of both more members and time to work together.
Upon receiving the award, Hassan Bhatti, 12, expressed his enjoyment over the Service Learning class finally being recognized for their efforts.
“It was me and one other person, Brian Hardell, 12, who were actually doing the survey to submit it to the competition,” said Bhatti. “I think a majority of the work ended up falling on my shoulders, which was really special to me because I was a first year in the class.”
Service Learning’s hopes rose as the entry standards for the award were changed, making it less about numbers and more about the impact the class makes on their community through events like the blood donation drive with the Stanford Blood Center.
“They believed that we had some of the highest direct impact out of anyone in this area, so for things like Diversity Week, they thought that it had a bigger impact on our students compared to things like canned food drives which is just collecting cans that go to a middle man and then to where you’re actually trying to get them,” Bhatti said.
Assistant Principal of Guidance Elizabeth Brush accompanied Service Learning to D.C. and elaborated on how the program have a direct connection to the rest of the students and has the ability to make a big impact on the community.
“Some groups held drives and did donations and made a big impact in that way, but I think ours was more connected to the student body by bringing kids together and helping them see their similarities,” said Brush. “There were some groups that had bigger things in mind, but I think that we’re on our way towards getting that bigger impact where it makes more of a difference immediately in our community.”
When Service Learning had heard that they had won and were invited to attend the DC gathering, they were shocked.
“We’ve been submitting essentially the same application for many, many years. But this year, they changed their rubric,” Bhatti said.
Service Learning got to mingle with other groups and see their projects at the group conference, providing inspiration for future projects. Kalin Majnon, 12, was moved by a speaker who had spent his life helping other people.
“There were a lot of group activities we did with other schools from other states. We learned about the projects of those other schools and it was really inspiring,” said Majnon. “It’s not just Pioneer, it’s people all over the country, from all ages, who are doing this. It was very inspirational because some people have dedicated their entire lives to what they’re doing.”
On the final day of their visit, Pioneer’s students handed out packaged sandwiches to the homeless at Grand Central Station, ending their trip with one last good deed.
Due to service learning being offered as a class, as opposed to other schools offering it as a group or club, they had the advantage of both more members and time to work together.
Upon receiving the award, Hassan Bhatti, 12, expressed his enjoyment over the Service Learning class finally being recognized for their efforts.
“It was me and one other person, Brian Hardell, 12, who were actually doing the survey to submit it to the competition,” said Bhatti. “I think a majority of the work ended up falling on my shoulders, which was really special to me because I was a first year in the class.”
Service Learning’s hopes rose as the entry standards for the award were changed, making it less about numbers and more about the impact the class makes on their community through events like the blood donation drive with the Stanford Blood Center.
“They believed that we had some of the highest direct impact out of anyone in this area, so for things like Diversity Week, they thought that it had a bigger impact on our students compared to things like canned food drives which is just collecting cans that go to a middle man and then to where you’re actually trying to get them,” Bhatti said.
Assistant Principal of Guidance Elizabeth Brush accompanied Service Learning to D.C. and elaborated on how the program have a direct connection to the rest of the students and has the ability to make a big impact on the community.
“Some groups held drives and did donations and made a big impact in that way, but I think ours was more connected to the student body by bringing kids together and helping them see their similarities,” said Brush. “There were some groups that had bigger things in mind, but I think that we’re on our way towards getting that bigger impact where it makes more of a difference immediately in our community.”
When Service Learning had heard that they had won and were invited to attend the DC gathering, they were shocked.
“We’ve been submitting essentially the same application for many, many years. But this year, they changed their rubric,” Bhatti said.
Service Learning got to mingle with other groups and see their projects at the group conference, providing inspiration for future projects. Kalin Majnon, 12, was moved by a speaker who had spent his life helping other people.
“There were a lot of group activities we did with other schools from other states. We learned about the projects of those other schools and it was really inspiring,” said Majnon. “It’s not just Pioneer, it’s people all over the country, from all ages, who are doing this. It was very inspirational because some people have dedicated their entire lives to what they’re doing.”
On the final day of their visit, Pioneer’s students handed out packaged sandwiches to the homeless at Grand Central Station, ending their trip with one last good deed.