Rockford Lutheran H.S. Students Provide Community Service

submitted photo The Journal
Rockford Lutheran students serving at Valley Orchard.

Rockford Lutheran High School students provide over 1500 hours of service to the community
Service is an essential building block in the Lutheran School experience. It is, in fact, a CORE Value of Rockford Lutheran School. This year, we will be taking our learning outside of our physical building with the Jr. High partnering with approximately 16 agencies, providing about 500 hours of service on Thursday, May 2; and our Sr. High will partner with 18 different agencies, providing over 1,000 hours of service on May 16. The program is a collaborative effort between the school, its students, teachers, parents and agencies across the Stateline.
While at the various sites, students will work alongside teachers and parents, building relationships while also providing meaningful work. Jessica Iasparro, Day of Community Service Coordinator, said, “Work that needs to be done is meaningful work. We are supporting the mission of area agencies by providing work that needs to be done, at no cost to the organization. We are also exposing our students to the mission of the organization, which may lead to a student pursuing volunteer opportunities on their own. Students will also learn that service is not always about them getting ‘warm, fuzzy’ feelings, because frankly, one goal of service is learning that it isn’t about you, but about who you are serving.”
Iasparro further said, “In the 2019-2020 school year, Rockford Lutheran will launch a pilot program curriculum where we will have between 3-5 high school homeroom classes engaging in a community service learning project. As a class, we will discuss community needs; work with a community agency; develop a project to meet a defined community need; and weave academic learning objectives into it.
We welcome input from the community if they have ideas for ways our students could engage.”
In the week following these service days, teachers will reflect with the students in order to integrate the physical service in the students’ learning. The goal and rationale of these service days is to physically demonstrate the values of our mission and our CORE values to our students and our community. We have an opportunity to model and teach one aspect of living a Christ-centered life.
Rockford Lutheran School extends our thanks to each area agency (list attached) that has agreed to partner with us on this very important learning objective.
Rockford Lutheran School was established in 1965 and offers an academically challenging Christian education focused on developing the diverse skills, talent and abilities of our students so they may successfully lead and serve their communities.
The Relevance of Day of Service to our Mission and Core Values Mission:
Rockford Lutheran School – the provider of an exceptional college preparatory education in a challenging and inspiring Christian environment.
We hope to not only inspire students to be active learners, but engaged members of their community. Learning to serve needs to be intentional and it requires action outside of our four walls.
Core Values
Christ Centered: Our faith and trust in God and His Grace serves as the foundation of our ministry and is reflected in our teaching, relationships, and service.
We are building relationships between students and faculty, students and God, and Rockford Lutheran and the community. We are modeling responsible citizenship and a Christ Centered life.
Excellence
We strive for excellence in education and promote our God given potential. Service helps us to discover and develop our God given potential by uncovering our gifts and talents and developing leadership skills.
Service
We inspire students to serve others reflecting Christ in our lives. We need to be intentional in our ways to inspire students to serve and live a Christ centered life. We also need to model that behavior and help them develop which areas of service interest them. We can do this by exposing them to different ways to serve.
Harmony
Diversity brings strength to our Lutheran family. All people are valued and welcomed. Service exposes students to individuals and organizations that they may have never come into contact with or known about. This promotes understanding and acceptance.
Rockford Lutheran School admits students of any race, color, nationality or ethnic origin.
What is Community Service Learning?
1) A method whereby learners learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service that is conducted in and meets the needs of communities
2) Coordinated between a school and community
3) Helps foster civic responsibility
4) Is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the learner’s education and components of the community service program in which participants are enrolled
5) Provides structured time for learners or participants to reflect on the service experience.
An educational approach that combines learning objectives with community service in order to provide a pragmatic, progressive learning experience while meeting societal needs.
A philosophy, pedagogy and model for community development that is used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and or content standards.
A form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities for reflection designed to achieve desired learning outcomes.
A form of experiential education where learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection as students seek to achieve real objectives for the community and deeper understanding and skills for themselves.
Community Day of Service Locations:
Alpine Road Clean-Up, Cherry Valley Parks and Township, Christ the Rock Lutheran Church, Concordia Lutheran School and Church, Cornucopia Food Pantry, Discovery Center, Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Independence Village, Patriots Gateway Center, Rock House Kids, Rockford Lutheran Academy, Rockford Lutheran School, Valley Orchard, Zion Development
Rockford Lutheran School, 3411 N Alpine Road, Rockford, 815-877-9551 www.rockfordlutheran.org