NYLC Involved in Service-Learning Events in Argentina

Buenos Aires, Argentina was the site of two international service-learning gatherings in late summer where Kari Afrstrom, NYLC Vice President of Marketing, Development, and Public Policy, offered workshops on NYLC initiatives.

Highlighting the week was the annual International Service-Learning Conference, held in Buenos Aires, and featuring a national service-learning award. More than 3,800 schools, with a total student participation of 1.6 million, had submitted applications. Several projects were honored, and the first- and second- place teams of teachers and students presented their projects.

One of the first-place teams described a project which involved vocational students and the police force, and succeeding in breaking down stereotypes on both sides. The local vocational school lacked cars to practice on, and the local police needed mechanics to fix their cars. Through their agreement, teen boys — many of whom had histories of petty crimes — provided a necessary service to the police. The students gained academic skills and the police gained a new appreciation for the youth.

Other examples of winning projects included:

• Over three years, students from a school located next to a forest destroyed by fire, learned about native trees and grew them from seeds to seedlings. When another fire destroyed the area again, the students repeated their planting process, redoubling their efforts and selling more than 300 seedlings to support the project.
• Secondary school students built solar panels, tracking the hours of sunlight and their experiences.
• A school created a green space in the town square and developed tourism packets describing the town’s heritage.
• Youth at a school with a terrible rainy season built sidewalks and put up warning signs to help students navigate washed out roads and get to school safely.
• One school with a radio station stressed literacy by collecting books and holding reading marathons.

The same week, the Ibero-American Service-Learning Network, which promotes service-learning in the region, met to discuss coordination of services, research, and engagement practices in Latin America, the United States and Spain.

Photo courtesy of CLAYSS.