Polk County Public Schools
The Polk Public Schools Service Learning Program is featured prominently in a Web site article on MSN.com. The article is on the MSN Encarta section and titled “Can You Teach Philanthropy?” and written by MSN reporter Melissa Slager. Polk Public Schools are profiled along with student service learning programs in New York City, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the cities of Lewiston, Maine and Everett, Washington. Margaret Anne Wheeler, the school district’s community involvement coordinator, is interviewed in the article. The article also mentions a Polk school district service learning program that raised awareness about animal welfare. Click here to view the entire article.
Davenport School of the Arts has started a “Change the World Club” that meets after school. The club does humanitarian and philanthropic projects. Recently, the club challenged the school to drink nothing but water for two weeks on behalf of Africa’s “1,000 Wells” project. The 1,000 Wells organization raises money and awareness to build wells in Africa so villages can have clean drinking water. Students and staff were asked to bring in change and money they would have normally spent on soft drinks, tea, coffee and juice over a two-week period. The school’s goal was $500 but that was easily surpassed as the school collected more than $1,000. Three elementary classes collected more than $80 each.
“Our motto is that if everyone does something, then we change the world,” said DSOTA language arts teacher Leslie Howe, an organizer with the Change the World Club.
