West Potomac High School

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West Potomac High School
Infusion of Service Learning
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Building A Community Through Service Learning A
presentation for the PCEP Annual Grantee
LuncheonBaltimore Marriott Waterfront
HotelAugust 6, 2009

• Rima Vesilind, Former Principal
• Hassan Mims, Social Studies Teacher
• Cliff Hardison, New Principal
• Carrie Jones, School Social Worker

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West Potomac High School
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Where and Who Are We?

• Northern Virginia, just south of Alexandria in
  Fairfax County
• Approximately 3,000 people, including 250 staff
  members, come to West Potomac daily.
• We have two magnet programs the Academy (500
  students) and Pulley (90 students).
• We offer 300 courses, including 23 AP courses.

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Demographics
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Additional Demographics

• 56 of West Potomac students come from minority
  backgrounds.
• We have a 31 mobility rate.
• Our students come from more than 60 different
  countries and speak more than 40 languages.
• 35 qualify for free/reduced meals.
• Almost 200 students are full-time participants in
  the program for English Speakers of Other
  Languages (ESOL).

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We Are Diverse in Every Way

• Culture
• Religion
• Language
• Ability
• Special Needs
• Socio-economic status
• Urban, suburban

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Why did we decide that Service Learning and
Character Education was so important ? This is
what we saw in 2004

• Disrespectful school climate
• Discipline problems
• Apathy, tardiness, truancy
• Low state test scores
• Staff, administration turnover
• Lack of community involvement

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What did we want our school to be like?

• Responsible, respectful, caring
• High academic achievement
• Appreciative of differences
• Few discipline problems
• Cohesive, supportive learning community
• Community involvement
• Attractive facilities

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Fairfax County School Board Goals (adopted in
2006)

• Academics All students will obtain, understand,
  analyze, communicate, and apply knowledge and
  skills to achieve success in school and in life. 
• Essential Life Skills All students will
  demonstrate the aptitude, attitude, and skills to
  lead responsible, fulfilling, and respectful
  lives.
• Responsibility to the Community All students
  will understand and model the important
  attributes that people must have to contribute to
  an effective and productive community and the
  common good of all.

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What were the keysto changing the school climate?

• Establishing ROAR-Character Education Committee
  Responsibility, On-Time, Achievement, and Respect
• Fostering meaningful and appreciative
  relationships between students and faculty
• Building Professional Ethical Learning
  Communities (PELCs)
• Developing schoolwide service-learning program

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West Potomac High School
Responsibility On-Time
Achievement Respect

• We have a responsibility to be on time and
  prepared, to achieve at a high level, and to be
  respectful of all.

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Tertiary Prevention Specialized
Individualized Systems for Students with
High-Risk Behavior
CONTINUUM OF SCHOOL-WIDE INSTRUCTIONAL
POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT
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Secondary Prevention Specialized Group Systems
for Students with At-Risk Behavior
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Primary Prevention School-, Classroom- Wide
Systems for All Students, Staff, Settings
80 of Students
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A Comparison (PBS Data)
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West PotomacService Learning
Senior Project
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Community Service, Service Learning

• Community Service
• Unpaid labor benefiting the community
• Citizens providing free help for organizations
• Service Learning
• Students personally growing
• Leadership development
• Teaching civic responsibility

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Goals of the Senior Project

• To help students identify and study a social,
  political or governmental issue that interests
  them
• To develop students individual research and
  communication skills
• To integrate classroom and real-world experiences
  for students, forming democratic citizenship and
  the habits of civic engagement
• To contribute to the well-being of the West
  Potomac community-at-large

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Integrated throughout the school

• 9th grade 10 hours
• 10th grade 15 hours
• 11th grade 20 hours
• 12th grade 30 hours

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Components of the projects

• Researching a social, political, or government
  issue
• Writing a research paper on the topic
• Performing hours of service in relation to the
  students chosen topic
• Reflecting on the experience through journal
  entries and a culminating presentation of
  research and experience

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Elements Essential to an In-depth
Service-learning Project

• Planning during our PELCs and assessing progress
  of the project
• Working within our team to create all the
  components of the project
• Working with other departments to collaborate on
  assignments and get professional feedback

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Student Anecdote

• William Floyd 12th grade WPHS student
• When (Mr.) Mims said we were going to be
  completing the Senior Service Learning Project,
  initially I wasnt too excited. But the more
  service-learning hours I completed, I began to
  understand how my community (Bucknell Elementary
  School) needs me and how I can make a difference.

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Academic Skills Developed by Students

• Researching
• Source analysis
• Paraphrasing
• Deciphering fact from opinion
• Networking with organizations
• Research-based writing
• Presenting

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Review and Analysis of the Service-learning
Project Goals

• The students were introduced to numerous lessons
  and resources to investigate various social,
  political, or government issues.
• Tasks and activities were integrated into each
  quarters curriculum.
• 95 of the Juniors Seniors completed all
  components of the project, 85 of underclassmen.
• Through this project, West Potomac developed a
  stronger relationship with its surrounding
  community of individuals and organizations.

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Mentoring and School-based Initiatives

• The Bucknell-West Potomac Mentoring Partnership
• Library Assistantships
• MESOL (Mentoring ESOL Students)
• Best Buddies (Pulley and Autism Center)
• Peer Mediation
• Landscaping
• Peer Tutoring

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Spotlight Bucknell-West Potomac
Mentoring Partnership

• Mission To develop positive, caring
  relationships between
• high school and elementary students
• Goal To promote academic success and instill a
  greater
• sense of responsibility, compassion and
  self-confidence in all students

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How Our Mentoring Partnership Supports Service
Learning

• It provides service-learning opportunities that
  are accessible to all students.
• The program meets every Wednesday after school
  from 245 415 p.m., November through May.
• Mentors must attend training in order to learn
  skills that will help make them effective
  mentors.
• Students obtain more than 30 hours of service by
  serving as a mentor.
• The school social worker is assigned to both
  schools and serves as program coordinator.

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We Saw Paradigm Shifts

• A gradual change in focus from
• aggressive disrespect to an appreciation of
  manners, respect and excellence
• us against them to shared, thoughtful
  collaborative relationships between students and
  staff
• emphasis on teaching to an emphasis on learning
• Do what I say. to Understand why it is
  important for you to do this.
• Its someone elses fault. to assumption of
  responsibility

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Thank you for your attention!!

• Questions???