Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/2866
Left: Tia McCartney paints a kitten. Top right: Lupe Marino, a K-1 teacher at Project Hope, and Edgar Perez work together. Below: Student Diego Castaneda (right) shows young Joshua Brewster a painting method. smile. It makes you feel good when these kids cherish the moments they have with you. It actually has changed me and made me more mature. I’ve become more caring as a person.” “Every week when I go and help these kids, it makes me feel good about myself,” says Edgar Perez, 17. “I really enjoy work- ing with them. They always make me laugh — it makes me feel like a kid.” The service learning project is not all fun and games, h owever. I t’s t ied to curriculum about hi story, ci vics and writing, and students keep journals and reflect on their experiences. They have also become advocates for the homeless, waging let ter-writing c ampaigns t o politicians and city leaders and contacting local lawmakers at the state level on their behalf. They have s old Project Hope bracelets, w orked with t he s chool’s foundation, and helped to raise more than $30,000 for the school, which has 75 to 95 children between the ages of 5 and 14 at any given time. “They are learning civics and learning “But they do want to be needed. Our kids said at first they thought they were just helping others. But now they know they are actually helping themselves.” Amanda Lopez, 17, agrees that she is benefiting as much as the little ones she spends time with. “At first I started doing this to get a smile from them,” she ex- plains. “But now they give me a reason to how to give back to the community,” says Borcoman proudly. “And it has connected them with the community. The mayor of Orange came to our open house and thanked students for what they have done. They’ve never been recognized like that before. It has helped change them into productive people. It has changed their self-image.” Nallely Martinez, 14, says she is do- ing better in school and is earning most- ly A’s and B’s. The service learning proj- ect, she says, “energizes” her about edu- cation in general and has made her a happier person. “Sometimes little kids don’t like anyone helping them out, and sometimes they want you to help them,” she says. “I strug- gled in school, and I don’t want these kids to have the same problems I did. I want to be there for them.” The school’s service learning project was one of five in the state that received a 2008 award from Educating for Democracy, the California Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools. To learn more about the Project Hope program mentioned in this story visit: www.projecthopeschool.com. december 2008 • january 2009 | www.cta.org 15