Benefits2 is a series of issues papers focused on ways that rural schools and communities can work together so that both will thrive. School-community partnerships offer students powerful, hands-on educational experiences while contributing to the community's social, economic, and environmental well-being. As we will learn in this series, thinking innovatively and working collaboratively are keys to success.

You’re an elderly resident in a tiny ranching community fifty miles from the nearest doctor’s office. Your physician is concerned about your blood pressure, and wants it monitored at least once a week. What do you do?

In Balmorhea, Texas, and a number of other small towns across the rural United States, residents can turn to the school-run health clinic, where students–supervised by the school nurse–may take their blood pressure, offer information about nutrition and diet, or schedule a follow-up appointment. In some locales, students visit residents in their homes. Other schools hold periodic health fairs, offering health screening and resource information.

These activities represent only a few examples of the ways in which rural schools and their surrounding communities are linking together for mutual benefit. Local residents get help that isn’t otherwise accessible in remote, resource-strapped rural areas, while students get hands-on learning experiences, opportunities to relate to their local environment, and a much-needed sense of utility and worth.

According to many rural education experts, rural schools and their surrounding locales are so deeply interdependent that any activities benefiting the community also will bolster the school, and vice-versa. If the community thrives, the school will have a stronger tax base and a more supportive, involved citizenry on which to draw. If the school system is strong, the area can more easily attract new residents, and students will graduate with the skills and knowledge needed to maintain community vitality.

In many areas, though, schools and communities are taking a more systematic approach to enhancing their mutual destinies. Spurred in some cases by school staffs, sometimes by parents, sometimes by business or civic leaders, rural groups are establishing initiatives that include specific goals for both student learning and community well-being.

There are many ways to structure learning activities that meet both curricular and community goals, from student-staffed health clinics to environmental monitoring projects to student-run newspapers and other businesses. Most activities fall into one of two major categories: service learning or entrepreneurship. Both of these approaches (the two often overlap) are receiving greater and greater attention from educational reformers and policymakers. This issue of Benefits² focuses primarily on service learning; the next issue will provide an overview of entrepreneurial education.

Some service learning activities, such as student mentoring or peer tutoring, can take place right in the classroom.

As the name suggests, service learning is learning through community service. Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer (1996, p. 593) write that Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students...In addition to helping those they serve, such service learning activities seek to promote students’ self-esteem, to develop higher-order thinking skills, to make use of multiple abilities, and to provide authentic learning experiences–all goals of current curriculum reform efforts.

Service learning projects can be enormously varied. A majority of activities tend to address community needs related to health, poverty, social issues, or the environment. Another popular category of community-based activity has students documenting local history or culture through interviews, archival research, photography, or other means. These activities do not involve direct assistance to individuals, but rather help the community at large to maintain a sense of identity and pride. Student mentoring and peer or cross-age tutoring are also classified as service learning, since they involve students helping other students.

Some service learning activities, such as student mentoring or peer tutoring, can take place right in the classroom. Others involve forays into the community or beyond. Some, such as a weekend neighborhood cleanup, may be one-time activities, while others last a semester, a school year, or even longer.

Though most service learning projects are implemented in the middle or high school grades, elementary school students can benefit as well. Lillian Stephens (1995, p. xx) likes to start with the early grades because "it has been demonstrated that all kids, from the time they first enter school, can be made aware of their responsibilities to their communities." She especially urges service learning activities for middle school students; the interdisciplinary curricular approach used in many schools is particularly adaptable to service learning. By including service learning in the early and middle grades, Stephens argues, schools can reach students who otherwise might drop out before reaching high school. She also notes that service learning is intended for all students:

Service learning activities are not the province of any one group– the gifted, the talented, the average, or the exceptional kids. All are involved. All can serve. Furthermore, unlike the classroom, where students are rated individually, service is frequently a collaborative experience. Participants learn to work together and to accept the contributions of each. (p. 11)

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