Marshfield R-1 School District, Marshfield, Missouri

The SaYES award allowed Marshfield R-1 School District to enhance and support existing service-learning projects across four schools and all grade levels. These included: 1) High school Students Opposed to Destructive Action (SODA) worked with older adult volunteers to develop a stage performance addressing safety issues for Kindergarten and first-graders. The older adults provided direction, input and content guidance. 2) Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU), based at the district's junior high school, designed and delivered a presentation on the dangers of nicotine and tobacco for second- through fifth-graders. Older adults helped with research, presentation design and delivery. 3) Students at one elementary school, together with older adults, volunteered at the local humane society, where they worked to improve living conditions for resident pets. 4) At another elementary school, students in the after-school program worked with older adult volunteers to make blankets and scarves for local nursing home residents. Thanks to the SaYES mini-grant, more students were able to engage in service-learning district wide, and according to Assistant Superintendent Jim Rich, students gained a better understanding of service-learning as a result.