Service Learning encourages students to take their education beyond the classroom and serve the community. With each year, it grows and improves tremendously as new elements are added to the program.

This year, the freshmen participated in a new project consisting of constructing a kite with third grade students from El Sol Science & Arts Academy and Edward B. Cole, Sr. Academy (EBC). With their students, the freshmen researched science, culture and technology each month to eventually help them build a kite.

“With anything you try for the first time, there’s going to be some hiccups along the way. Overall though, [the freshmen kite project] was a great success,” said John Paulsen, Service Learning Coordinator. “We had a fun kite flying day in Huntington Beach, and the plan for next year is to turn that day into a bigger celebration and barbeque.”

Like the freshmen, sophomores partnered with students from El Sol and EBC, but they also worked with a new school, Quest Academy.

Sophomores created their own lesson plans to focus on writing a paragraph with their fourth graders each visit. Toward the end of the year, sophomores helped their students compile those paragraphs into an essay, and all the essays were put into a book for the students and their families.

“Because the fourth graders miss out on coming to Sage’s campus, a change in the program for next year is perhaps on the day of the freshmen kite celebration, the fourth graders will come here,” Paulsen said. “Also, in order to have the fourth graders be more involved in making their books, we might try to set up some sort of printing press at Sage and have different rooms be different publishing skills.”

In order to celebrate all of the hard work and fun times the freshmen and sophomores shared with their partners, the community joined together on the evening of April 15 for the Fifth Annual Service Learning Expo. This year, a short video was shown at the start of the night, and then families and students enjoyed face painting and snacks in Wilkens Town Square.

After two years of partnering with fourth and fifth grade students, juniors and seniors are able to make their own choices on how they want to serve the community.

They can partner with a national or local organization, or they can also develop their own ideas. Many students work with teachers who have similar passions to make changes in the community.

“Trying to find those connections with teachers for the juniors and seniors helps because students can take the things they are learning in the classroom and apply them in the real world,” Paulsen said.

Another important aspect of the junior and senior program is keeping an updated blog with posts on how they spend Service Learning days and also goals they have for the future.

“The senior program was pretty strong this year, and I think the juniors that are rising as seniors know exactly what they need to do for next year,” Paulsen said.

A last addition to the Service Learning program this year was an extra Service Learning day on April 22. In the morning, freshmen reflected on their year, sophomores delivered their completed books to the school, and juniors and seniors discussed plans for next year.

That afternoon, the community gathered in the Ube to watch an inspiring documentary, The Drop Box, produced in part by a Sage Hill alumna, Sarah Choi ‘09. The film showed students first hand how Service Learning can be applied beyond Sage.