Curriculum and Community Connections

University Heights’ strength lies in the way the faculty engage students in Service Learning.  A lot of their activity takes place after school with the Workability Program which is a collaboration of Service Learning Club and the Special Education students.

Workability is a State of California program sponsored by the Department of Education Special Education Division.  University Heights received a grant, which was primarily for career exploration, and helping kids with their interests and hobbies.  This is what started the garden program. It was a perfect opportunity to get kids involved in a way that gives them hands on learning experiences, and gets them ready for life.  It’s career and life oriented, so that when they talk about science, they talk about what scientists or mathematicians actually do.

The students come up with ideas that run the program, and their program extends beyond their campus.Last year they came up with a program called "Seeds of Love."  With Seeds of Love, students worked in the school garden, cleaned up community parks, went to retirement homes, and put together packets for homeless shelters and shelters for abused women.  They collected supplies for these folks, then went to the retirement communities and shelters to put on shows.  This idea of the program was generated and designed by the students themselves.

Students also mentor kids at the nearby elementary “feeder” schools, working with them in the garden so that they will be excited and interested once they come to University Heights. A lot of the kids who come from nearby Highland Elementary, and Mr. Frey and Mr. Stamis have been working with the new principal, to arrange for their students to go once a week to work with these kids. They will be bringing some kids here, and the SL kids will be helping them to do gardening here.

Service Learning Workbook Sample

Goals

To further develop their curricular connections, University Heights has plans to create an Ecological Study Center.  This will be a separate gated area where students can do standards-based science and history lessons. At the center, will be a Paleontology Pit.  A curriculum has been developed by Lewis Center for Education Research in Apple Valley, California. It provides all the equipment and supplies for students to do their own archeological digs. They do hands-on lessons relating to physical anthropology, carbon dating and more.