JAMES B. Conant High School

(hoffman estates, Illinois)

 

learning through

community

action Program

 

lcap

 

 

 

 

            The Learning through Community Action Program (LCAP) began at Conant High School in 1973.  Its purpose is to give our 600 seniors an opportunity to provide public service by getting directly involved in their own communities.  It helps students recognize the value of volunteerism and allows them to become part of a valuable community resource for problem solving.

 

            LCAP sees the school as a place where students not only come to learn, but from which they go out to share their knowledge and skills by serving others.  For example, students with a social studies, math, language, or English background are able to work as tutors in junior high and elementary schools, as well as with E.S.L. students at Conant High School.  They are also able to serve in day care and nursing centers, hospitals, and health facilities and governmental bodies.  Students with special skills find a wide variety of experiences in which to use their talents.

 

            LCAP also helps students to manage their own affairs, take decisive, significant actions, participate with other age groups, learn how to care for dependent people, and enjoy the satisfaction of giving of one’s self.  Through all of these experiences, students mature and grow into productive adults who feel good about themselves.

GOALS OF THE LEARNING THROUGH

COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM

 

 

 

  1.       The students apply what they are learning in school to what is happening in the community.

 

  2.       The students, by being involved in the research option or the volunteer option, will learn to be analytical through observation.

                       

  3.       The students will learn to accept responsibilities and to make commitments to fulfill these responsibilities.

 

  4.       The students will improve their communication skills.  At the same time, the program will also open lines of communication between the school and the community.

 

  5.       The students will become more aware of the various social agencies that deal with the community needs through volunteer work or while interviewing community experts.

 

  6.       The students learn to take risks as they are having to do things they may otherwise not do.

 

In addition to the above goals, the students who do volunteer work will also find these

additional benefits.

 

  7.       The students will develop a sense of individual worth from helping out other people.

 

  8.       The student will be sensitized to the needs of the people and of the community.

 

  9.       The students will learn to deal with people who are different from themselves.

 

10.       The students will be aided in their career choices.

 

 

THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM

 

 

                        The volunteer program is available both semesters.  If you are a January graduate or have one semester of survey credit, you will do the LCAP project first semester.  One half of the students in each survey class will do LCAP each semester.  If you do not choose the volunteer program, you will do the research option.

 

                        As a volunteer, you will work at one of the participating agencies listed in the volunteer job description booklet.  The LCAP coordinator has contacted these agencies.  They have given you their job needs, they know how to evaluate you, and they know what to expect from you in terms of our volunteer program.  You must call an approved agency and arrange an interview.  You should go to the agency for an interview as soon as possible.  You must have your volunteer contract signed by your parents, the agency director and returned to your survey teacher by the stated due date or you will have to do the research option.  A current calendar is posted in each classroom.

 

            Each volunteer session is a period of eleven school weeks that includes the week for contacting the agency.  You are expected to volunteer for all ten weeks and a minimum of 20 hours.  Do not plan on getting all 20 hours of work within 5 weeks and then quitting.  When you volunteer for ten weeks and complete more than 20 hours, the extra hours will help your overall LCAP grade.

 

            Report to your agency each week on the assigned day and time.  If you are unable to make your scheduled day or time, call your agency.  You will also have to make up that time within the ten week period.  If you are having any difficulties, talk to your survey teacher immediately.  This is your responsibility.

 

            Each time you report to the agency, be sure to sign in on the LCAP form at the agency and have your time card signed by your supervisor.  Your survey teacher will check this card periodically, so keep the card with you.

 

            While volunteering, keep a journal highlighting each day’s duties, trials, joys and concerns.  The journal should:

                        a.         describe your feelings about the work and the people.

                        b.         indicate what you have learned.

                        c.         include changes you would suggest about the agency.

                        d.         incorporate any ideas or feelings you have concerning volunteerism.

 

            As a volunteer, it is important that you research the agency and think about what you, as a consumer, would want to know before you would use the agency.  Therefore, you must analyze the agency and consolidate your research and analysis into a paper.  Your paper is due four weeks after you begin working (see calendar).  Remember to read over the questions to be answered during an interview with the agency director.

 

VOLUNTEER GRADING PROCEDURE.

 

                        20% of the grade is based on your journal.

 

                        20% of the grade is based on the three to five page analytical paper.

 

40% of the grade is based on the agency’s evaluation of you, include

        written evaluations.  Your total number of hours over the minimum

        of twenty (20) hours will also be taken into consideration.

 

20% of the grade is based on the oral report you make to the class on your

         volunteer experiences.

 

***  The Research grading procedure will be presented at the Research Workshop.

                                            

HOW THE LCAP GRADE WILL INFLUENCE YOUR 2nd  or 4th  NINE WEEK GRADE:

 

            1.         If the grade on LCAP is two whole grades better than the average of the previous

                        two nine week grading periods, the 2nd or 4th nine week grade is raised 2/3.

                                    Example:  The average of the previous two nine week grading periods

                                          is a C; you will receive an A on LCAP – this will raise your

                                           2nd or 4th nine week grade up to probably a B-.  Exception:

                                                      If the average grade is a B and you get an A on LCAP, the

                                                      same rule applies as above.

 

            2.         If the grade for LCAP is one whole grade higher, the 2nd or 4th nine weeks’ grade is raised 1/3.

 

            3          If the grade for LCAP is the same as the average, the 2nd or 4th nine weeks’ grade

                        stays the same.

 

            4.         If the grade for LCAP is one whole grade lower, the 2nd or 4th nine weeks’ grade is lowered 1/3.

 

            5.         If the grade for LCAP is two whole grades lower, the 2nd or 4th nine weeks’ grade is lowered 2/3.

 

 

            ***  FAILURE to do the LCAP project; to complete the entire ten weeks in the time

            allotted; to complete the minimum of twenty hours in the 10 weeks means you are

            considered incomplete.  An incomplete means you may not take the final exam and

            that you will fail Senior Social Studies Survey by default.

 

HOW TO WRITE A VOLUNTEER JOURNAL

 

                        QUESTION:          What should I write in my journal?

 

                        ANSWER:             An alumna, Debbie, at a Day Care Center said, “I like to write

                              just the things that stand out in my mind as either

                              good experiences or things that really bugged me.”  Jan,

                              another alumna, remarked, “I put down what I am doing in

                              classes, in other words the curriculum.  I put down how I like

                              the class and what I could do to improve it.

 

1.         DESCRIBE WHAT YOU DID IN YOUR VOLUNTEER SERVICE TODAY.

           

            “Today, I worked with a small group of the slow learners in reading readiness

            (vocabulary).”  Another way of describing what you do is to try and write down

            what you see people doing (their behavior) and then making an effort to interpret

            what that behavior means.

 

            OBSERVATION:        John sat in his seat studying vocabulary for twenty minutes.”

 

            INTERPRETATION:  “John has a long attention span.”  “John is interested in

            improving his vocabulary.”

 

2.         DESCRIBE YOUR REACTIONS TO WHAT YOU DID TODAY.

           

            “I thought that my efforts today were successful in getting the children to go over

            our lessons.”

 

            “Things didn’t go well today at all!”

 

3.         DESCRIBE THE FEEDBACK YOU RECEIVED FROM PEOPLE YOU WORK

            WITH.  This includes the people you are helping and the staff you work with.

 

            “Ms. Smith, my cooperating teacher, remarked to me today that I was using good

            communication techniques in talking with the children.  I listened to them, showed them

            that I understood what they said and felt and told each one of them how nice they were.”

 

            “Joyce, a friend, mentioned to me that some of the children we both worked with really

            enjoy the Elephant Word Game.  This is a game that I invented.  That makes me really

            feel good.”

 

4.         DESCRIBE YOUR FEELINGS AND ATTITUDES.

 

            “I was excited today because the children know my name.”

 

            “I really don’t think it’s the appropriate thing for a teacher to yell at the kids for the

            twenty minutes of the class time.”

 

5.         DESCRIBE WHAT YOU LEARNED.

           

            “I  found that the communication skills contained in our handbook sheet really work

            when used.  I found that listening and showing empathy to the kids really opens them up.

 

            “I found that I have to use the progress sheet in my daily lessons, otherwise the kids don’t

            respond as they do when I use them.”

 

6.         DESCRIBE WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE CHANGED ABOUT TODAY’S ACTIVITY.

”I ignored Billy today when he spoke to me.  It was the first time he has said anything to anyone in three days.  Next time I will show more concern.”

 

            “I am going to come better prepared to my next visit.  I wasn’t prepared for the questions the kids asked.”

 

7.         INCLUDE IN YOUR JOURNAL ANY COMMENTS FROM YOUR SHARING MEETING.

 

            “The last sharing meeting, Pam said that she took the first step in talking to someone who was shy in her class.  I tried going up to a girl in my class who never said much of anything.  After a while, she opened up to me.  I really feel that I’ve made a friend.”

 

            “Mr. Caputo suggested in one of our sharing meetings that I keep a record of the things that work and the things that don’t work.  I did and I found that I can see what I’m doing wrong because I’m doing the same thing over and over.  I realize that I have to change.”

 

8.         DESCRIBE THE THINGS THAT ARE BOTHERING YOU.

 

            “Mr. Plank doesn’t talk to me.  He never offers advice or ideas.  I wish he would say something.”

           

            “I’m having difficulty getting to my placement area.  Transportation is a real hassle.”

 

9.         DESCRIBE ANYTHING THAT HAS INFLUENCED YOU IN SOME WAY.

 

            “I noticed that Mr. Reed brought name-tags for the children today.  He named all the kids letters of the alphabet.  The kids really enjoyed the game and they learned something too.  I think I’ll try the same technique.”

 

            “Mental health is an interesting field to get into.  I think I’ll arrange to visit some other agencies and see what I can learn.”