TCAPS' Learn and Serve Program

TCAPS began its Learn and Serve program in the 2007-2008 school year. This program was made possible through a federally funded grant by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and administered by the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC) in partnership with the Michigan Department of Education (MDE).

Service-learning connects meaningful community service with academic learning, personal growth, and civic responsibility. Students are able to see beyond the classroom and into the community, where they learn by addressing community needs and solving real-life problems. Students benefit as they learn to understand more about the world around them, comprehend academic content and apply their knowledge in contributing to their community's well being.

TCAPS' 2008-2009 Service-Learning Projects include:

• Youth-to-Youth (Y2Y) Micro-Lending Project 
  9th grade students at TCAPS' Freshman Academy strengthen their financial literacy and math, social studies, and economics skills as they delve into their micro-lending project. In the classroom, students are preparing to grant a micro-loan to a youth entrepeneur in a 3rd world country. To accomplish this, students must first learn about financial literacy, what makes a good business plan, and what obstacles might get in the way of someone being able have a successful business and be able to pay back their loan. Students are reviewing several potential candidates. Once they determine who they would like to grant a micro-loan to, they must create a presentation as to why their candidate should be granted a loan, and will then present their case to a local investment club to receive a $100 grant to be used for the loan. View the video on the right to learn more about the Freshman Academy students' micro-lending project.
  
  Community partners include: FLY (Financially Literate Youth) and Falconer Group

• Group Environmental Project 
  Twenty-five 9th grade students from TCAPS' Freshman Academy and 25 West Middle School 6th grade students will be receiving training from the Boardman Nature Reserve Education Center to learn about implementing a group environmental project. The students will then work together to select, plan, and complete the project. 
  
  Students learn about their local environment, enhance science and biology learning, and gain leadership and critical thinking skills as they work together to improve the environment.
  
  Community partners include: Boardman Nature Reserve and the Grand Traverse Conservation District

• Willow Hill Elementary School Student-Run Newspaper  
  Willow Hill 4th and 5th grade students have been hard at work learning all the ins-and-outs of running a school newspaper. Students are in charge from beginning to end on what stories to run, who should write the story, who should gather photos, what the best layout will be, what deadlines need to be met, and how to get it printed and distributed.  With the help of a few tireless parents and TCAPS' Printing Department, these students have successfully published their first issue and are already on to their next. Click here to view their first newsletter or to watch a video about their project. 
  
  In the Spring, these students will use their learning experiences to plan and host a learning seminar on "How to Write a School Newspaper."  Two TCAPS elementary schools will be invited to attend the seminar. 

• Willow Hill Elementary School "Knitting for the Community" Club 
  With the help of 4 volunteers, 16 boys and girls from Willow Hill are learning to knit. Their goal is to get good enough at knitting so they can make scarves to donate to the Father Fred Foundation. They would also like to work together to make afghans for the United Way Afghan Project.
  
  Community partners include: The Presbyterian Church

• Traverse City High School Food Pantry Project 
  Two teachers and 10 students from Traverse City High School volunteered at Father Fred's Food Pantry in order to gain knowledge that will assist the students with their own newly started food pantry at their school. Students also learned how to write press releases to the media so they could share with and reach out to the community.
  
  
• Money Smart Week 
  TCAPS' Learn and Serve Program partnered with at least 10 other community leaders to bring Smart Money Week to Traverse City. All day sessions were held on financial literacy at banks, brokerage firms, and insurance agencies. These sessions were open to the community. 
  
  Community partners include: Aromas, Boys and Girls Club of Grand Traverse, GTACS, Cuppa Joe's, Espresso Bay, Falconer Group, Federal Reserve Bank, Fifth Third Bank, FIM Group, First National Bank, FLY (Financially Literate Youth), Higher Grounds, Horizon Book Store, Huntington Bank, Intelligence Agency, Julie Weeks - Womenable, Junior Achievement, Prout Financial Design, Rotary Charities, TC Chamber of Commerce, United Way of NW Michigan, and Unity Fair Trade Marketplace. 

 TCAPS' 2007-2008 Service-Learning Projects include:

• Grand Traverse Region Brochures and Governors Project
  Fourth grade students from Eastern Elementary School researched, wrote, and produced two brochures highlighting the Grand Traverse region. The brochures were displayed and distributed by both the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce and the Grand Traverse Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). Both the Chamber and CVB were able to use the highly informative brochures for relocation packets, tourist distribution, convention proposals,and responses to other 4th grade  students thorughout Michigan who study the state of Michigan as part of their 4th grade social studies curriculum. 
  
  In preparation for writing the brochures, students participated in a field trip that included:
  • a visit to the Chamber and CVB;
  • presentation on invasive species from the Director of Education for the Great Lakes Watershed;
  • a tour of the lighthouse on Old Mission Peninsula including a walk along the beach to look for the effects of invasive species on the Bay; and
  • a tour of one of the area's largest cherry/apple farms.  

  
  In addition to creating the brochures, students also wrote personal letters to each of the 50 state's governors to encourage them to visit the area during the 2007 Annual National Governors Conference being held in Traverse City. Students wrote to the Governor and First Spouse of the state that they personally chose to study in the 3rd grade and shared information about the Grand Traverse region as well as something about that Governor's state. The feedback the students received from the Governors was overwhelmingly positive.