The following school districts received planning grants for 2009-2010:

Bingham Arts Academy
Bingham Arts Academy is a PK-6 Public School Academy in Alpena.  The school serves 63 percent economically disadvantaged students.  During the planning year, Bingham Arts Academy will work with ACES Academy from Alpena School District and the Community Health Outreach Coordinator for Alpena Regional Medical Center to pilot service-learning projects to improve the health of the Alpena community.

In the 2009-2010 grant year 100 percent of students, 100 percent of teachers, and two community partners will be engaged in service-learning.

Contact: Sarah Prevo
555 South Fifth Avenue
Alpena, Michigan 49707
Phone: (989) 358-2500
Fax: (989) 358-2503
Email: sprevo@binghamartsacademy.org

Covert Public Schools
The Covert Public Schools (CPS) is located in a rural southwest Michigan community where pervasive poverty exists due to geographic isolation from larger metropolitan areas where employment opportunities are greater.  During this planning year, CPS will establish an advisory committee to oversee project activities.  The advisory will guide service-learning pilot teachers, create professional development strategies, and identify participants for the 2010-2011 school year.

In the 2009-2010 grant year all three schools, four teachers, 10 percent of students, and nine community partners will be engaged in service-learning.

Contact: Ricky Jones
35323 M-140
Covert, Michigan 49043
Phone: (269) 764-3740
Fax: (269) 764-8598
Email: jonesr@covertps.org

Saranac Community Schools
Saranac Community Schools provides education services for 1,222 students K-12 as well as 56 preschool students.  For their planning year, Saranac will design a comprehensive needs assessment plan and expand an existing service-learning advisory board to include more community partners, students, and teachers.  The district will also continue their work to establish a requirement for service-learning in the third grade, seventh grade, and potentially as a high school English requirement.  These steps will allow for sustained programming at all three grade levels.  The grantee will also be examining ways to establish a board policy in support of service-learning to tightly align programming with the districts' other educational initiatives.

In the 2009-2010 grant year all schools, 275 students, 30 teachers, and nearly 40 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.

Contact: Connie Hamilton
88 South Pleasant Street
Saranac, Michigan 48881
Phone: (616) 642-1203
Fax: (616) 642-1405
Email: connie_h@saranac.k12.mi.us

Stanton Township Public Schools
Stanton Township Public Schools service-learning program intends to build community partnerships to address specific community needs while focusing on grade level learning outcomes.  Their goal is to institutionalize service-learning across the district during the next few years.  The service-learning program in this rural K-8 school district, will integrate academics with real world experiences to cultivate student success.

The first year of the program will concentrate on public awareness and involvement.  A service-learning advisory board, consisting of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and interested community members, will be established.  Students will be fully involved in identifying community needs and planning service-learning activities.  Projects will then be created based on data received from the surveys.  Students, teachers, administrators, and community members will come together to establish service-learning as an integral component of the core and non-core curriculum district-wide.

In the 2009-2010 grant year all schools, all students, all teachers, and more than 70 community partners will be engaged in service-learning.

Contact: Jean Dunstan
50870 Holman School Road
Atlantic Mine, Michigan 49905
Phone: (906) 482-2797
Fax: (906) 487-5928
Email: jdunstan@stanton.k12.mi.us