Passion Projects Challenge Students While Giving Back to Community

By Kristina Rawlins, Teacher, Carmichael Middle School

It’s all about making a difference in my classroom. Language Arts is more than just writing. It’s connecting with the community of the classroom, Carmichael Middle School and Richland, where we live. This project is assigned at the beginning of the year and due in June. Each student has an opportunity throughout the school year to render service and compile the project.

I require students to complete a seven part “Passion Project” in which they render service and write their thoughts into an expository essay.

To begin, the students turn in one paragraph describing the plan of action, where it is located and what particular service they are rendering. Some students perform more than one act of service such as volunteering to groom the school baseball fields and putting up Christmas decorations at the Union Gospel Mission in Pasco (see photo at right and photo gallery below).

Students keep a log of the days worked, time spent, and service provided signed by a parent or administrator.

Students write a one page expository paper describing the service provided plus their “personal” connection to the experience. The paper explains the project, how the student went about the duties and, most importantly, what the student learned about himself and others.

A photograph is required with a creatively designed border representing the service provided.

Students write thank you notes to the organizations where they served.

An evaluation letter from the person in charge indicating the service the student provided and overall performance evaluation is required.

Last of all, students give oral presentations about their experiences.

Almost 120 students participated in this project last year. Service rendered included: helping serve food at the homeless shelter; entertaining and spending time with the elderly at elder care centers; working at Pet Over Population and the Humane Society; and cleaning the Carmichael computer lab and library.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all.” ~Leo Rosten

“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” ~Franklin Delano Roosevelt