The Young and the Elderly Against Crime

High school students designed skits focusing on crimes that targeted the elderly and performed them at senior centers. They also surveyed residents in their communities to evaluate critical needs and distributed literature on safety to senior residents.

Selected students, elders, and community partners attended a series of summer institutes designed to strengthen the program and their partnerships. Participants drafted resolutions and policy statements that addressed major hometown safety concerns. Attendees then engaged in strategic planning to implement additional service-learning projects that united neighborhoods around the common causes of hometown safety and security.

Participants reflected by analyzing evaluation surveys and discussing presentation effectiveness. They also considered recommendations to improve the process. Teachers used a variety of reflection methods to spark student ideas, including essays, poetry, artwork, and music.

Adapted from a project by the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Fire, and Police Departments, as described in A Guide to Engaging Students in Service-Learning Projects Addressing Hometown Safety. Published 2006 by Florida Learn & Serve, a program of the Florida Department of Education, Tallahassee.