Guide: Rebuilding Community: A 9/11 Semester of Service

Posted by on August 13, 2010

Fall Semester of Service intended to honor 9/11 victims

In response to the events of September 11, 2001, people served in an unprecedented way.  Building upon that spirit, and seeing service as a way for young people today to understand the events of September 11, Youth Service America is encouraging the launch of a fall Semester of Service on 9/11.

To help in planning Semester of Service  activities, YSA has published Rebuilding Community:  A 9/11 Semester of Service, a 4-page module that guides students through the process of planning a Semester of Service that launches on 9/11 and culminates on MLK Day of Service in January.

The resource outlines the service-learning stages of Investigation, Preparation/Planning, Action, Reflection, and Demonstration/ Celebration, and introduces suggested activities for each stage. The brochure can be downloaded here.

The publication is designed to complement the Semester of Service Strategy Guide, a resource developed to help teachers and others working with youth to develop and implement a high-impact, strategic plan of action to engage young people in serving and learning in their communities over the course of a semester. The strategy guide can be downloaded here.

Youth Service America will release additional 9/11 resources in August, including “9 for 9/11” with 9 themes for service projects to honor the 9th anniversary of 9/11.

Educational lesson plans about 9/11 and engaging in service will be made available nationwide to teachers online and as activity posters, developed by MyGoodDeed in partnership with Scholastic, the 4Action Initiative, the Corporation for National and Community Service and HandsOn Network. More than 2,500 educators throughout the U.S. have already signed up to receive these materials for this school year.  Visit http://www.scholastic.com/MyGoodDeed to sign up to receive these materials when they are released