New Jersey Service-Learning Conference

Posted by on October 27, 2006

[posted from National Service-Learning listserv]

The Center for Community-Based Learning at Montclair State University in collaboration with the Volunteer Network of the National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County Section, will hold a one-day conference at Montclair State University titled: Building Better Communities through Service-Learning.

The purpose of the conference is to help local communities and their non-profit community-based organizations to effectively integrate service-learning students into their volunteer and community service initiatives. With 14,000 K-16 New Jersey students participating in service-learning across the state, this corps of highly energetic and educated young people have a great potential to help local communities address real issues of public concern. Unfortunately, many community-based organizations have little knowledge about service-learning and how it works.

It is the intention of conference planners to provide local non-profit directors and their staff a greater understanding about the pedagogy and best practices of service-learning and ways they can collaborate with K-12 schools and institutions of higher education around the state to help them better serve their communities. Additionally, the conference will provide a venue for to K-16 faculty interested in learning how to link community service to the curriculum and for high school and college students to connect with their peers who are community service advocates and leaders.

The conference will have three tracks that focus on K-12 schools, higher education, and non-profit community-based organizations with a crosscutting track for high-school and college students. Examples of workshops include: developing effective campus community partnerships, youth in philanthropy, integrating service-learning into the core curriculum, and non-profit strategies for successful service-learning, just to name a few.

The Conference is scheduled for Friday, December 1, 2006 at the MSU Conference Center, between 9:00 and 3:00.

Register online at: http://www.VOLUNTEERnj.org