Stewardship Projects: Learning that Makes a Difference

Stewardship Projects:

Learning That Makes A Difference

IslandWood's commitment to inspire students to be stewards of their community and to help classroom teachers facilitate stewardship projects was the major factor that led me to pursue graduate studies at IslandWood. IslandWood defines stewardship as action that arises from caring and informed relationships in one's natural and cultural community. Stewardship projects engage students and give them what John Dewey calls "the most important attitude that can be formed . . . the desire to go on learning."

Stewardship Projects In Classroom Setting
While teaching fifth grade at Winding Creek elementary school, I had my students participate in an integrated student-directed stewardship unit. I challenged my class to develop a way that they could make a positive difference in the lives of others in their community. The students voted to conduct a book-drive for a local Head Start, a federal and locally funded preschool program serving children from economically disadvantaged families. The students set goals, reflected on their learning, worked in cooperative groups, advertised, wrote proposals to the school administration and local businesses, and succeeded in collecting seven hundred and seventy-six new and used books in three days.

Head Start students with their books

Then, they delivered the books to Head Start where they read to the preschool students. The project not only presented the students with real life applications of reading, writing, math, and social studies, but also helped develop character, interpersonal skills, self-confidence, teamwork, and a love of learning.

Another example of a stewardship project was with my sixth grade reading and language arts class. I had them work together to research their local community and propose a way that they could make a difference. The students demonstrated their language arts skills by writing and presenting proposals, making persuasive speeches, and creating letters, advertisements, and reflection papers. Their reading skills were used to research their communities and develop a way to make a positive difference. Throughout the process the students were more focused, motivated, and excited about reading and writing than at any other time during the year. At the conclusion of the project, the students successfully planned and implemented a school-wide toy drive for homeless children.

IslandWood School Overnight Program
As a graduate student and teacher at IslandWood, I have had many opportunities to witness the rewards of teaching stewardship. Prior to a school group coming to IslandWood, as an instructor, I visit the school in order to prepare the students for their experience. I use this time in the schools to teach them about stewardship. Once the school group arrives at IslandWood, I open the week by presenting my group with a mission that challenges them to use the knowledge, skills, and experience they will gain while here in making a positive difference to the IslandWood community. The stewardship mission adds focus, meaning, and excitement to the week. At the end of the week, the students develop a small stewardship project to do at IslandWood. Some of the projects my groups have planned and implemented include:

· Picking up trash along a local road and reusing the trash to create a sign explaining the harmful effects of littering on the environment.

Kids Know Litter Hurts
· Creating signs with information and suggestions about how local organizations can make better decisions about their paper waste.
· Creating a short film about the impacts of making, shipping, serving, and disposing of a slice of pizza to teach their school about managing food waste.
· Creating Reduce Reuse Recycle signs to encourage people to sort their waste.
· Making short films to teach others about the impacts of litter on the environment.
· Creating bumper stickers to educate others about human impacts on the local watershed.

The students end their week reflecting on how they can take what they learned at IslandWood and apply it to a classroom stewardship project and to their everyday actions and decisions.

IslandWood School Partnership Program
Following a school's visit to IslandWood, staff from IslandWood help classroom teachers facilitate a student-directed stewardship project in their community. The projects challenge the students to use their newly gained knowledge, skills, and experiences to make a positive impact in their community. At Bailey-Gatzert elementary school, a school located in the central district of Seattle, one of the classes I worked with designed a garden restoration stewardship project. The students constructed a Venn diagram to help them compare the IslandWood community to their own. With additional research they were able to restore a neglected section of their school garden by weeding and planting native and edible plants. Another class at Bailey-Gatzert used their experience of studying birds and habitats at IslandWood to make birdhouses for the native birds around their school.

Green Lake elementary school, a school that practices full inclusion for students with special needs, has been working with a local artist and me to construct ninety cattail mats. The mats are adorned with poetry expressing what the students learned about the importance of plants to native northwest cultures, the environment, and themselves. The project will be on display at the Queen Anne Treewalk, a community exhibit in Seattle.

In my experiences using stewardship projects in the classroom and at IslandWood, the learning and personal outcomes are the greatest part of these projects. Students demonstrate a deeper understanding of subject matter, a glowing sense of self-confidence and accomplishment, inspiration to continue to work for the betterment of their community, and a love of learning.

A framework for student-directed stewardship projects
Although stewardship projects vary in time, scope, and complexity, there are several key components that are integral to this valuable learning experience. First, students need to explore the concept of stewardship as well as the work of other stewards. This helps the students to understand stewardship and to use this knowledge to become stewards in their own community. Through student-directed, caring, and informed investigation of their communities, the students identify areas where they can have a positive impact. The students then work as a team to set goals, and to develop, implement, and reflect on a project that makes a positive difference in their community.

My passion for stewardship has inspired me to create a stewardship curriculum as part of my graduate work at IslandWood. The curriculum is designed to aid IslandWood staff and classroom teachers in teaching stewardship and in facilitating student-directed stewardship projects. The following is a framework that guides teachers in the facilitation of a student-directed stewardship project: