Service-Learning and ServiceNation - A Day of Action Indeed! (Learn and Serve America Grantee)

Tina Doepker, an art teacher at Grogan Elementary in Southgate, Michigan, knew she wanted to engage her students in ServiceNation's Day of Action following an informational email from the district's grant coordinator.

"I was immediately inspired by the thought of so many people across the country working together on one special day to make a difference in the world," she says.

The Southgate Community School District has been a recipient of a Learn and Serve – Michigan school-based service-learning grant for over six and a half years.  Service-learning is integrated throughout the district's K-12 curriculum, even in Doepker's art classes at Grogan Elementary.

Doepker thought ServiceNation's September 27th Day of Action was the perfect opportunity to unite students with a service opportunity – which turned out to be creating art for The Manor, a local nursing home.  She looked at her K-5 curriculum and determined where she could incorporate pieces of her proposed project into their lessons.  Then, through discussions with her students, they discovered how art can have an impact on people and the importance it has on all our lives.  Thanks to a grant, Doepker was able to purchase the necessary supplies to create framed pieces of art.

Over 300 students helped create eight images to be presented to The Manor, with students creating wooden frames, sketching images, and finally painting them.  On Saturday, September 27th, the official Day of Action, several students delivered the art to The Manor and were greeted by a reception thrown by the home's residents.  Grogan Elementary was one of thousands of Day of Action projects throughout the country and made up some of the hundreds of thousands of volunteers who engaged in a project.

Doepker hopes the frames can become stationary at The Manor, and seasonal artwork can be rotated in, keeping the home's hallways bright and colorful.  She also says the partnership they created to display Grogan Elementary's artwork is just the beginning as they aim to expand their efforts in the future.