Why Not 74 Million Solutions?

There are 74 million people under the age of 18 in this country. Unfortunately a far smaller number will have been engaged as leaders in their classrooms and communities this year. This gap represents a tremendous opportunity cost, a huge pool of untapped talent, ingenuity, and human capital. At a time when our nation is facing so many challenges, we cannot afford to leave 74 million potential problem-solvers, 74 million potential servant-leaders out of critical national conversations.

In the many conversations I have had, the response to this statement is that collaboration with young people needs to happen, but most are honestly baffled by how to accomplish it in a meaningful way. This is where service-learning provides a compelling answer — with over 20 years of research and practice, service-learning is a proven strategy to mobilize this immense resource and connecting young people with learning objectives to advance enterprising solutions that are changing the world.

We need to think differently about how we engage related strategies and broaden our efforts with renewed vigor. NYLC has a clear strategy to focus on engaging elected officials and highlighting what young people themselves are accomplishing through service-learning. The Department of Transportation shadow day last year with Project Ignition students prompted the Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to meet again with those students at the National Service-Learning Conference last April. Staff at the Department continue to talk about the impact of that visit, naming specific students whose expert research and insightful questions impressed them.

In September, NYLC hosted a bipartisan, bicameral Capitol Hill Briefing highlighting the successes in Guilford County Schools. The briefing included two students, Al and Tyler, and a panelist from the Department of Education among others. It went a long way to showcase how service-learning is a very effective part of a district-wide school improvement strategy.

We have prioritized drafting bipartisan legislation that would amend No Child Left Behind to make it easier to use existing resources from Department of Education to be utilized for service-learning strategies and professional development within schools and during out of school time. In 50 or so meetings on Capitol Hill with both sides of the aisle, this approach was widely supported. We continue to look for opportunities to advance this effort.

Through a series of regional summits convened by the National Center for Learning and Citizenship, at the Education Commission of the States, I was struck by the similar challenges facing civic education and how if we each thought about our approaches a bit differently, we could accomplish even more together. With service-learning, any subject area can incorporate civic dimensions into the learning objectives and give students real-world opportunities to practice taking civic-oriented action.

We have found like-minded approaches advanced by the Civic Mission of Schools around the Sandra Day O’Connor Civic Learning Act, which is being re-introduced with bipartisan support. Service-learning is included as a recommended strategy and is one of six proven practices for effective civic learning. At the Corporation for National and Community Service, there remains a commitment to engaging young people in national service and to supporting service-learning.

Looking beyond government, we have compelling private programs launching or expanding. The McCormick Foundation’s Democracy Schools are demonstrating how service-learning can be connected to hands-on practice of civics and are finding compelling results. Free the Children and We Act are bringing a social enterprise model of engaging youth in service connected to their schools from Canada to the US for the first time, and there are countless other examples.

I am not an advocate for, nor does NYLC embrace, service-learning for service-learning’s sake. I believe in, and am inspired by, this strategy for what it can achieve because it empowers young people to solve real problems, taps leadership in youth who are least often asked to serve, and can transform teaching, educational outcomes, and student engagement in schools and during out of school time. Accomplishing this requires us to go on the offence; to reach out purposefully and proactively; to build common ground.

The knowledge, skills, and traits we are building in youth and their adult allies will better position current and future generations to tackle new problems and challenges as they arise. And we can ensure that young people from all walks of life are active contributors in their own lives and communities — building a true democracy and leaving no ideas, innovation, or human capital on the table. This is our ultimate goal and we need you to help make it a reality.