The following schools/school districts will receive implementation grants in 2009-2010:

Belding Area Schools
Service-learning has been in development for eight years at  Belding Area Schools.  With the help of grant funds from Learn and Serve - Michigan since 2006, the district has been able to expand the knowledge staff has and is now working to help staff provide meaningful service projects to all grade levels at Belding Area Schools.

The district's long term goals for this program are to establish an annual district service-learning day, incorporate service-learning into the curriculum and school improvement plans, establish a service-learning communication plan, and regularly offer strong service-learning professional development. 

During the 2009-2010 grant cycle, educators will be provided service-learning training and assistance in tying service to their classroom curriculum.  The grantee will also focus on developing a common system for evaluating projects and on enhancing their advisory board with additional student and community members.

In the 2009-2010 grant year all five schools, 50 teachers, 845 students, and more than 30 community partner will be engaged in service-learning.  

Contact:  Rachel Ostrander  
Belding Area Schools
1975 Orchard Street  
Belding , Michigan     48809
Phone: ( 616) 794-4993
Fax: ( 616) 794-4956
Email:  ostrander@bas-k12.org  

Charlevoix Public Schools
Plans to implement the grant in 2009-2010 include continued development of a sustainable plan for all students at all levels to "learn to serve and serve to learn."  A district-wide Strategic Planning Committee made up of community members, parents, school board members, administration, and school staff created a strategic plan with guiding principals including: learning environments where relationships are built, active teaching to engage students in learning, increasing the connections between parents, business, and community, working together and sharing responsibilities, family participation in the educational process, and encouraging volunteerism.

A task force will review service-learning standards for quality practice to develop a comprehensive district plan for service-learning that aligns with the district's strategic plan.

In the 2009-2010 grant year all three schools, 45 teachers, 880 students, and more than 150 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.  

Contact: Gail Cherry
Charlevoix Public Schools
5200 Mario Center Road
Charlevoix, Michigan 49720
Phone: ( 231) 547-3222
Fax: ( 231) 547-3245
Email: gcherry@rayder.net  

Chassell Township Schools
In 2009-2010, Chassell Township Schools will be entering its third year of managing funds through a service-learning implementation grant.  In 2009-2010 they will increase service-learning teacher leadership in the district, align the program with school improvement goals, evaluate the district's connection between service-learning and core curriculum, and expand their record-keeping to document the success of the program.  The program will work to connect the service-learning goals to school policies and to the curriculum planning being conducted by the Education Committee.  They will also work with the school improvement team to identify one school improvement goal that can be supported by service-learning.

In the 2009-2010 grant year all schools, 187 students, 14 teachers, and 10 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.  

Contact: Karen Turpeinen
Chassell Township Schools 
41585  U.S.Highway 41
P.O. Box 140
Chassell, Michigan 49916
Phone: (906) 523-4691
Fax: (906) 523-4969
Email: turpeinenk@cts.k12.mi.us   

Concord  Montessori & Community S chool
In its second year of funding, Concord Montessori and Community School will establish a process for further integrating service-learning into the classroom curriculum.  The system will guide staff, administration, students, and program participants through all elements of executing academic service-learning projects that meet local needs and that promote a rigorous educational experience.  Several basic needs have already been identified and student project planning is underway for 2009-2010.  Several teachers piloted projects in the planning year and the number of teachers and students will increase in year two.

In the 2009-2010 grant year nearly half of the students, 10 teachers, and 14 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.  

Contact: Erik Schupbach
5055 Corey Road
Mancelona, Michigan 49659
Phone: (231) 584-2080
Fax: (231) 584-2082
Email: eschup@charter.net    

Fitzgerald Public Schools
Fitzgerald Public Schools board policy was revised in January 2008, to include a service-learning requirement.  Beginning with the class of 2010, each high school student will complete a 40-hour community service-learning project before June 1st of their senior year in order to receive a diploma.  Fitzgerald's goal for service-learning over the next four years will be to expand and develop: (1) a structured service-learning component within the curriculum over a four-year period which will provide an opportunity for students to experience service-learning at least one time in each grade span; (2) provide advanced level training in service-learning to educators, students, and volunteers; (3) provide networking opportunities for students and educators in service-learning; and (4) create a long-term sustainable network and resources for service-learning.  This will be accomplished by adding a service-learning component to curriculum, hiring staff to oversee programming, developing a service-learning resource center, and offering mini-grants to teachers and students for innovative service-learning projects.

In the 2009-2010 grant year 792 students, 19 teachers, and four community partners will be engaged in service-learning.   

Contact: Barbara VanSweden
23200 Ryan Road
Warren, Michigan 48091
Phone: (586) 757-1750
Fax: (586) 758-0991
Email: barvan@fps.fitz.k12.mi.us  

Grand  Blanc  Community  School District
The  Grand  Blanc  Community School District (GBCS) is seeking Learn and Serve funds to enhance their service-learning program.  They will continue the program that allows students, and/or teachers, to design service-learning activities around what they determine to be a community need based on their current studies.  Allowing participants to design their own activity helps foster students' sense of civic responsibility, self-worth, and empathy, as well as develop higher-order thinking and problem solving skills with real work application of knowledge gained through the core and non-core curriculum.  The coordinators will continue to support students in developing project ideas and teachers to link projects to their curriculum - especially in social studies.

In the 2009-2010 grant year 10 of 11 schools, 2350 students, 10 percent of teachers, and more than 10 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.  

Contact: Martha Gale
Grand Blanc Community Schools
11920 South Saginaw Street
Grand Blanc,   Michigan 48439
Phone: (810) 591-6931
Fax: (810) 591-6431
Email: mgale@grandblancschools.org  

Inland Lakes Schools
Inland Lakes Area Schools were originally awarded a Learn and Serve planning grant in 2006-2007.  Teaching staff and administration were enthusiastic about the program.  Program goals have been met and exceeded, with 14 current Learn and Serve projects at all three levels of schools: elementary, middle, and high school.  Inland Lakes will continue the implementation phase of institutionalizing service-learning.  The coordinator will increase the number of student and teacher participants in 2009-2010.  She will offer professional development and one-on-one support to educators who are new to service-learning and will assist with bringing new community partners to their work.

In the 2009-2010 grant year 650 students, 52 teachers, and nearly 50 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.  

Contact: Susan Whitener
Inland Lakes Schools
5243 South Straits Highway
Indian River,  Michigan   49749
Phone: (231) 238-8896
Fax: (231) 238-4181
Email: swhitener@inlandlakes.org

Kent  Intermediate S chool District
The Kent ISD will expand and support academic service-learning as an instructional methodology in classroom and schools.  Primary objectives of the grant include: (1) Service-learning students will demonstrate achievement in a core academic subject and demonstrate an employability skill while helping others at school or in the community; (2) Kent ISD will expand service-learning increasing the number of service-learning programs, hours, and the number of participating teachers, students, and schools in the region; (3) Kent ISD will develop, expand, and implement long-term sustainability plans for service-learning in participating local school districts.  All participating schools will write and implement plans to sustain service-learning programs.

In 2009-2010 more than 80 service-learning programs will be implemented, more than 250 educators, and 6000 students will integrate service-learning in their curriculum.   

Contact: Steve Dieleman
Kent ISD
2930   Knapp NE
Grand Rapids, Michigan   49525
Phone: (616) 365-2271
Fax: (616) 364-1489
Email: stevedieleman@kentisd.org

Lake Orion Community Schools
Academic service-learning begins at the elementary school and continues through high school in Lake Orion.  The program continues to create academic service-learning programs in the core and non-core curriculum.  Teachers are provided professional development opportunities throughout the school year so the K-12 service-learning standards for quality are put into practice.  When appropriate, the applicant provides training that is accessible through an online training portal called Moodle.  The program seeks to include all types of students, including special education student classes, students who have family difficulties, students in poverty, and students in alternative education settings in service-learning. 

In the 2009-2010 grant year nine of 11 schools, 1440 students, 63 teachers, and more than 20 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.         

Contact: MaryAnne Thorndycraft
Lake Orion Community Schools
455 East Scripps Road 
Lake Orion , Michigan   48630
Phone: (248) 693-5436
Fax: (248) 693-5670
Email: mthorndycraft@lakeorion.k12.mi.us 

Montcalm  Area Intermediate School District
Montcalm Area Intermediate School District (MAISD) serves as a central support system to several public school districts and 12 private schools.  The Learn and Serve project supports the ISD's mission to "strenghten and facilitate collaboration to maximize community resources."  MAISD will continue to implement and expand service-learning throughout the county in each of the seven districts in 2009-2010. 

In the 2009-2010 grant year 18 schools, 90 teachers, 1200 students, and more than 40 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.  

Contact: Deborah Wagner
621 New Street
Stanton, Michigan 48888
Phone: (989) 831-5261
Email: dawagner@ioniaisd.org

Onaway Area Community Schools
For the 2009-2010 school year, Onaway Area Community Schools will begin taking formal steps to institutionalize, and therefore sustain, the service-learning projects and activities they have successfully been involved with during the previous three grant years.  The district will expand the offering of an independent study course to high school upper-classmen, giving students an elective credit for designing and implementing a service-learning project over the course of a semester.  As they enter a new phase of their school improvement cycle, they will insert service-learning methodologies into the school improvement plan with greater fidelity and an overall eye toward community revitalization.

Through these efforts, the goal is to have all students have service-learning opportunities at every grade span and that all students will be involved in these activities at every grade level, as a routine part of daily practice.

In the 2009-2010 grant year all schools, 621 studnets, 15 teachers, and more than 20 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.  

Contact: Rod Fullerton
Onaway  Area Community School
P.O. Box 307
Onaway , Michigan   49765
Phone: (989) 733-4950
Fax: (989) 733-4998
Email: rfullerton@oascd.com   

Romulus Community Schools
The key goals for Romulus Community Schools' service-learning program include: embedding service-learning into classrooms district-wide; enabling each student to experience service-learning at each level; developing positive attitudes toward volunteering; and encouraging active participation in communities.  The K-12 service-learning program will expand in 2009-2010 with  service-learning lead teacher-coordinator assisted by an AmeriCorps*VISTA who will mentor, develop, and sustain projects throughout the district; monitor the implementation plan for sustainability; implement, monitor, and disseminate impact surveys and results; and assist with grant reporting.  Professional development at the elementary level will occur this year with the middle school and high school targeted in subsequent years.

In the 2009-2010 grant year all schools, 810 students, 40 teachers, and five community partners will be engaged in service-learning.   

Contact: Dan Hurst
36540 Grant Road
Romulus, Michigan 48174
Phone: (734) 532-1643
Fax: (734) 532-1611
Email: dlhurst@romulus.k12.mi.us

School District of the City of Detroit
The Detroit Public Schools will embark upon its second year of service-learning in 2009-2010.  For the first year, Renaissance High School was the initial planning site for the Learn and Serve - Michigan program.  In one year, Renaissance impacted the lives of younger children at a neighboring school through mentoring.  Renaissance also established a sustainable recycling program for itself and the special education school adjacent to the high school.  The greatest accomplishment was introducing the staff to the concept of service-learning with such vigor, that more teachers are interested in starting their own service-learning activities.  This excitement has lead to the expansion of the program within the school and the start of a similar program in one of the feeder schools.

In the Implementation Phase of the Learn and Serve program, Detroit Public Schools will include a middle school, Bates Academy.  Bates services grades K-8 and has continually met AYP.  Bates will perform several service-learning activities tied to their Science and English curriculum.  The advisory board in conjunction with school administration will also ensure alignment of the service-learning activities to the federal and state-based curriculum standards as well as the objectives of the Learn and Serve - Michigan initiative.

In the 2009-2010 grant year two schools, 2000 students, and 100 teachers will be engaged in service-learning.

Contact: Angela Hoston
3011 W. Grand Boulevard, Suite 450
Fisher Building
Detroit, Michigan 48202
Phone: (313) 870-3600
Fax: (313) 873-3283
Email: angela.hoston@detroitk12.org

Willow Run Community Schools
The Willow Run Community Schools service-learning programming will include all of the seven district schools.  The projects at all levels, from elementary to secondary, will build on the planning year in 2008-2009. 

Ongoing professional development opportunities will be facilitated by the current service-learning team teachers with the support from faculty at Eastern Michigan University.  In addition, a Staff Advisory Committee will continuously assess district needs, develop a long-range plan, and set expectations and strategies for integrating civic education across the district at all levels to guide program activities and subjects, while monitoring program implementation.  A Service-Learning Youth Advisory Committee will also be established to ensure projects have a student voice and are student driven.

In the 2009-2010 grant year all schools, 200 students, 15 teachers, and more than 20 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.  

Contact: Penny Morgan
215 Spencer Lane
Ypsilanti, Michigan 48198
Phone: (734) 961-6320
Fax: (734) 481-8227
Email: morganpenny@wrcs.k12.mi.us