Learning Through Community Service - participation of camps in community service programmes

Community-service projects have traditionally been a part of many summer camp programs. Countless trails have been built or made accessible, staff blood drives have been held for local blood banks, food and toy donation drives have been held for local charities, just to name a few. But how and why should a camp get or stay involved in community service?

Benefits of Service Learning

Service learning is an educational movement taking place on campuses ranging from elementary to university levels that gives a deepening twist to volunteerism with a focus on training and reflection related to volunteer community service (Korbin & Mareth, 1996). The projects often cross ethnic, age, gender, and issue boundaries to foster effective citizenship between the participants and leaders. Studies have been conducted to see what types of changes occur among students participating in service learning. The results of one such study indicate increased ability in cognitive complexity, social competency, perceptions of working with diverse others, and self-certainty (Osborne, Hammerich, & Hensley, 1998). These skills could be gained through many avenues, but service learning offers participants the opportunity to wrestle with tough problems and seeks to make a difference, which takes the important issues of humanity out of the abstract and gives them names, faces, and a personal connection (Godfrey, 2000).

Implementing Community Service at Camp

In addition to documenting the educational value of community service programs, work has been done to develop implementation models and risk-management guidelines. The models developed for these programs offer starting points and potential partnerships for camps. The range of community involvement through camp is endless; the challenge is to develop safe, specific projects that further the mission and philosophy of the camp program while broadening the exposure opportunities for campers and staff.

Implementation model

The National Youth Service Day XI Toolkit (Youth Service America, 1999) can serve as a template for beginning new service projects or strengthening existing projects at camp. The following key points from the template have been adapted to apply to the camp community:

* Set specific goals. Brainstorm the overall vision, target groups to serve, and what the project says about your organization.

* Choose project sites. What issue do you want to address, e.g., literacy, environment, HIV/AIDS, elderly, or low-income housing? What size do you expect the project to be, e.g., one day, ongoing through the summer, one cabin group, or entire camp? What type of service are you imagining, e.g., collecting donations, clean-up, or construction projects? Will the project be activity or performance based? What expectations does the agency have? Who will supply the equipment needed? What logistics are needed?

* Prepare leaders. Create guidelines for site assessment, communication with agency, and training in skills to lead on-site reflection, evaluation, and camper orientation and training, including safety and liability issues.

* Organize the event. Who will manage details, troubleshoot, and instigate learning opportunities during the project?

* Follow up. Process learning with campers, with the agency, and those who received help.

* Plan a way to tell the story to others. Each project has the potential to be radically different, and/or you may find a project that works very well for your program that can be taken to varied sites. The key to success seems to be the integration level of the project with the camp program. A progression from doing projects in camp to neighboring land to the broader community helps with the growing pains of lessons learned by doing and helps campers and staff members grow into the responsibilities of larger projects.

Risk-Management Issues

The general principles of risk management that apply every day at camp also apply to service-learning community projects, but extra attention to the safety of participants in a community project is important. The Nonprofit Risk Management Center (Seidman & Patterson, 1996) offers the following strategy:

* Identify the risks. Analyze develop. mental characteristics of the age group, legal duties, and responsibilities, and examine the situation, e.g., site, staff, activities, and agency.

* Assess the risks. Categorize the risks. What can your organization tolerate? Which risks can be reduced or even eliminated?

* Decide how to control the risks. Use control measures that may include avoidance by deciding not to offer a specific program; modification of policy, plan or procedure; transfer through contract; or insurance, retention, and preparation for consequences.

* Implement the risk-management strategy. Follow through with plans and procedures; create a culture of understanding the importance of enforcing policy.

* Review and revise the risk-management strategy. Involve participants in the process of improving and addressing issues for the next time.

These steps are an important part of the planning process and can also be an important part of orienting campers to the process and plans for the community project. Campers perspectives may lead to new issues for your staff to consider, and consequently, campers can enjoy the opportunity of contributing to the overall risk-management team.

Unique safety precautions

The above general risk-management steps apply to both every-day camp experiences and community-service projects; however, community-service projects may well induce the need for specific risk-management guidelines that apply to unique situations beyond the normal camp day. For example, does the nature of the project necessitate providing guidelines for campers interacting with the public; discussing first-aid and emergency precautions (How far is emergency medical help from the project site? Will tools or equipment be used that require safety procedures or first-aid supplies?); or determining creative ways to identify a group of campers in a large crowd if the project is off site (brightly colored bandanna, same T-shirts, wristband, etc.)? Use of the planning process outlined in the standards for program operating procedures provides a platform to address situations in a proactive manner prior to the project.

Because the project may be out of the normal routine, the standard procedures may not address the complexity or scope of the potential danger. The planning process has potential to increase the benefits and reduce the risks by examining as many angles as possible.

Community involvement is about sharing and learning. You and your program are in a community .... How can you become a more integrated part of it? Brainstorm a few ideas, implement one, and see where it takes you and your community be a catalyst for increasing the learning opportunities for your camp community and beyond!

Gwynn Powell is an assistant professor at the University of Georgia teaching recreation and camp administration. She has twelve years of professional year-round experience in camping.

References

Godfrey, P. C. (2000). A moral argument for service-learning in management education. In P. C. Godfrey & B. T. Grasso (Eds.), Working for the Common Good: Concepts and Models for Service-Learning in Management. Washington, D.C: American Association for Higher Education.

Korbin, M., & Mareth, J. (1996). Service Matters: A Sourcebook for Community Service in Higher Education. Denver, CO: Education Commission of the United States.

Osborne, R. E., Hammerich, S., & Hensley, C. (1998). Student effects of service learning: Tracking change across a semester. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, (5), 5-13.

Seidman, A., & Patterson, J. (1996). Kidding Around? Be Serious! Washington, D.C.: Nonprofit Risk Management Center.

Youth Service America. (1999). National Youth Service Day XI Toolkit. Washington, D.C.: Youth Service America, Inc.

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