Certificate of Excellent Practice Completes Pilot Phase with Seven Recipients

NYLC presented its first seven Certificates of Excellent Practice in K-12 Service-Learning to advanced service-learning practitioners who successfully completed a pilot of the organization’s new certification program.

This March at The National Service-Learning Conference, NYLC presented its first seven Certificates of Excellent Practice in K-12 Service-Learning to advanced service-learning practitioners who successfully completed a pilot of the organization’s new certification program.

NYLC congratulates Jill Flakne, Clarice Kathryn Morris, Beth Nickle, Therese Helen Ratti, Patricia Stuever, Sheryl Thompson Terepka, and John P. Guffey, who not only passed the certification process but also earned graduate credit from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

NYLC developed the Certificate of Excellent Practice in K-12 Service-Learning Initiative to promote a high-quality practice and produce the best results for young people. The recipients participated in online graduate-level studies of the foundations of service-learning and the Principles of Effective Practice in K-12 Service-Learning, building a common language and base of understanding for evaluating their work.

After the completion of the classes, candidates set about preparing portfolios that were reviewed by NYLC’s evaluation board. Using criteria developed by a national panel of service-learning experts, the board certified the seven practitioners whose work met the established criteria for high-level service-learning.

"This is the first formal certification of K-12 service-learning practitioners," said NYLC Vice President Wokie Weah. "Service-learning experts from across the country have been working on this process for several years, both to ensure a high-level of practice and to recognize the advanced practitioners who have dedicated their careers to service-learning."

With the graduation of this first cohort, NYLC has officially taken the program out of the pilot phase, launching a new cohort in May with another one scheduled to begin in September.

"My goal for taking the class was to rekindle my passion for service-learning in the classroom," Guffey told prospective candidates at the conference. "I have to credit the program with validating that I can do the work — because the work is hard."

As the initiative continues to certify practitioners, it is also working with researchers and practitioners across the country to establish widely accepted, research-based, national standards for service-learning.