Developing a Sense of Stewardship through Service Learning

ADK is an organization committed to public service and stewardship. Both our Loj-based and our in-school outreach programs are designed to develop an awareness, an understanding, and a love of the students’ local environment. From awareness, understanding, and a love of the environment, comes concern and support for protecting it. Utilizing place-based curricula, ADK designs both Loj-based and in-school programs that stimulate and foster a deeper sense of connection to the students’ local environment. Place-based curricula serves to focus one’s attention on the home landscape, via an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates outdoor experinces. These learning experiences raise awareness of one’s immediate surroundings and fosters an understanding of the interconnectedness of the immediate landscape.

Take that understanding one step further and let us help you and your students create and implement a service-learning project in your school and/or local community. More than “volunteer projects,” service-learning opportunities connect classroom curricula with community service. By identifying a real community need, service-learning opportunities integrate academic objectives with time for structured personal reflection. Such service-learning opportunities could include:

  • creating and maintaining a birdfeeder garden on school grounds
  • implementing a recycling program
  • maintaining a nearby trail system
  • designing a natural history interpretive walk on school or community grounds

Let ADK help you design and/or implement a service-learning opportunity, leading to a stronger connection to the local communtiy and a deeper sense of stewardship to “home.”