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Chapter 13. Orienting Ideas in Leadership >
Section 5. Developing a Community Leadership Corps: A Model ... >
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| Contributed by Chris Hampton and Jerry Schultz Edited by Jerry Schultz |
Checklist
What is service-learning?
__ Service-learning is an educational method that emphasizes learning through community service
What is a community leadership corps?
__ A community leadership corps connects students with an organization or initiative in his or her community
Why develop a community leadership corps?
__ Provide educational experience for students
__ Teach positive values, leadership, citizenship, and personal responsibility
__ Encourage students to become active community members
__ Teach job skills to students
__ Contribute your outreach efforts to local community, the state, and beyond
__ Increase school-community collaboration
__ Help with community education
__ Contribute many hours of service to people in need, non-profit agencies, private sector companies, and governmental agencies
When is a good time to develop a community leadership corps?
__ A community leadership corps may be most useful for you after your organization has created its strategic plan and developed relationships with strategic partners
Who should be involved in developing a community leadership corps?
__ The institution or organization that recruits and supports the students or youth
__ The individual organizations where the students or youth will be placed
How do you go about developing a community leadership corps?
__ If possible, secure resources and support
__ Identify host organizations and any additional partners
__ Identify host organization needs
__ Recruit students
__ Identify student interests
__ Train students
__ Match students with host organizations
__ Monitor and support students during their placements
__ Allow students, hosts, and sponsors to reflect on the experience
__ Celebrate!
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Tool #1: Potential Host Assessment
In deciding on host organizations ask yourself the following questions about each potential host organization:
- Does the organization have clear goals and objectives?
- Can the organization offer activities for the students that will both challenge and instruct them?
- Does the staff have the time to properly supervise the student?
- Does the organization have enough office space to house the student?
- Does the organization have the financial resources to support the student?
- Will the organization be able to provide a variety of experiences for the student?
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Tool #2: Student Placement Sheet
You can use this simple form to match host goals and needs with corps applicant interests. You can adapt it to have as many spaces for applicant interests and host organization goals as you'd like. Fill in what the applicant's specific interests are, what the host organization's goals are, and use the columns to check off those that match.
| | Applicant Interest #1: ________________ ________________ | Applicant Interest #2: _________________ _________________ | Applicant Interest #3: ________________ ________________ |
| Host Organization Goal #1:_________ ________________ | | | |
| Host Organization Goal #2: _________ ________________ | | | |
| Host Organization Goal #3: _________ ________________ | | | |
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Tool #3: Faculty/Student/Host Organization Expectations
Adapted from Assessing Learning-Standards, Principles, and Procedures by Urban Whitaker.
To insure a satisfactory and productive leadership corps experience for everyone involved, it's best to be up-front about the expectations of all of the parties involved.
What a host organization may reasonably expect from students doing leadership corps work at their agencies:
- Promptness
- Regular attendance
- Willingness to stay for duration of shift
- Positive attitude
- Respect towards agency's environment
- Fulfillment of duties and responsibilities
- Feedback on appropriateness of given task
- Openness to learn about other cultures
What a host organization may reasonably expect from you:
- Ability to contact you about the corps project
- Learning objectives for the students' service work
What you and students may reasonably expect from a host organization:
- Clearly stated agency mission/goals so students may understand their roles in achieving that goal
- Adequate training for assigned tasks
- Supervision of students
- Feedback to students about work performance
- Feedback to faculty about student performance in a timely fashion for grading purposes
- A safe working environment for students
- Reasonable hours within which students may perform their service
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Tool #4 - Helpful links:
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