Greg Mortenson Keynotes National Service-Learning Conference

International educator Greg Mortenson, best known for building more than 150 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, told the audience gathered in Atlanta, Ga. for the National Service-Learning Conference Thurs. that he felt he was among “kindred minds.”

“Of all the talks I’ve done this year, this is the one I am most excited about,” he said.

The author of best-selling books Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools said that much of his effort — like those of service-learning practitioners — is to try to solve poverty. “We have to touch, smell, and see it,” he said. “We cannot solve it from a think tank in D.C.”

To that end, Mortenson — though his Central Asia Institute — has developed a “Pennies for Peace” curriculum that takes a service-learning approach to understanding the cultures and geography of the area, coupled with a fundraising campaign to help build more schools. In the past three years, the program has grown from working with 300 schools nationwide to working with 2,400.

Recounting his school-building adventures, Mortenson talked about the importance of educating girls, in particular. “If we educate a boy, we educate an individual. If we educate a girl, we educate a community,” he said.

The recipient of this year’s Alec Dickson Award, educator Jane Hammatt Kavaloski of Dodgville, Wisc., has been putting Mortenson’s work to practice locally, engaging young people and adults alike in a county-wide read of his books. “I’ve been passionate about service-learning for 35 years,” said the returned Peace Corps volunteer and social worker, who urged the audience to continue to help service-learning flourish.

With similar urgency, spoken word performer Julia Sewell, a member of City Year Detroit, admonished the audience not to “wait for superman” to address domestic education issues like the dropout rate among young African-American males. “Now is the time to act,” she said, echoing the theme of the conference.

For keynoter Maurice Green, Superintendent of Guilford County Schools in North Carolina, service-learning is one of several strategies that have proven successful for the more than 70,000 students in his district, increasing from one to 13 the number of “schools of excellence” in his region.

News of another earthquake in Japan silenced the audience at the end of the session, though Mortenson’s reference to the Persian proverb “When it is dark, you can see the stars,” offered hope.