Conference Fuels Next Steps in Service-Learning

For a moment in March it seemed that even country western stars had joined the festivities at the 20th Annual National Service-Learning Conference held in Nashville March 18-21. The 2,200 youth and adult participants included service-learning practitioners from all 50 states and 36 countries, alongside Elvis and Minnie Pearl.

Four days of powerful keynote addresses, on- and off-site projects, a Teen Driver Safety Summit, HopeWalks benefit, and numerous arts activities highlighted Tennessee’s unique contributions to the movement — both in spirit and substance. The “volunteer state”, awash in spring blossoms, made the conference’s theme of “Growing Hope, Cultivating Change” more literal than metaphoric. As Jim Snell, Executive Director of Volunteer Tennessee and conference co-sponsor said, “It was an honor to host the event and showcase all that Nashville and Tennessee offer the world of service-learning.”

Acting on the conference’s green theme, an ambitious group of young people from Front Range Earth Force (a Denver, Colo.-based organization) conducted an energy audit throughout the event. They monitored everything from light bulb usage to recycling practices, and presented their findings at the end of the conference — leaving the Convention Center with a set of energy- and cost-saving recommendations.

In the spirit of “cultivating change,” keynote speaker and author Richard Louv heralded the potential of service-learning to address global warning, but cautioned, “We won’t solve the biodiversity problem just through prevention; we need ‘new’ nature.” Oceans protector Phillippe Cousteau — grandson of Jacques Cousteau — echoed that message, and called on the conference community to expand its environmental efforts to include protecting the biodiversity within the seas as well.

The conference also highlighted service-learning’s impact on issues of social justice and equity, worldwide. Leading HIV/AIDs researchers Dr. James Hildreth, Director of the Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research at Meharry Medical College in Nashville and Dr. Arthur Ammann, President of Global Strategies for HIV Prevention focused on the potential of young people in turning the tide of the global pandemic. Their words became steps Saturday morning when approximately 100 conference participants joined Nashville locals in a walk to benefit children in Liberia who are affected by HIV and AIDS.

Many workshops, a service-learning showcase, and administrators academy offered a domestic focus. Keynote speakers Peter Benson, President of the Minneapolis-based Search Institute and Paul Houston, recently retired Director of the American Association of School Administrators galvanized participants with their emphasis on finding young people’s passions.

Friday evening culminated with the State Farm® Awards Celebration at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, where service-learning heroes were celebrated and the teen driver safety Project Ignition Best of the Best winner was announced: New Castle Junior/Senior High School from New Castle, Penn.

But perhaps most central to the “Growing Hope” aspect of the conference were the closing thoughts shared at the Gathering of Elders on Saturday. After an audio documentary on “hope” students of the New Foundations School in Philadelphia created, elders responded to questions posed by Naomi Tutu, Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s daughter.

Elder Todd Endo connected Martin Luther King’s words, “The arc of history is long, but bends toward justice,” with President Obama’s recent remark that “Each of us can help it bend more quickly” by lending a hand — a message firmly in the hands and hearts of service-learning practitioners as they headed home to cultivate change.