Support Services for Teachers - Colorado College

The Partnership for Civic Engagement staff offers group trainings, professional development opportunities, assistance in the classroom, and individual support. Examples of support include:

• Presentations to classes introducing service-learning
• Securing speakers on the issue their project addresses
• Making time-consuming calls to local government agencies, non-profits or other schools to ask specific questions required to set up projects
• Spending time in the classroom for particular sessions needing extra supervision
• Conducing research on issue, policies, or resources related to the project
• Connecting teachers to the statewide network of educators for relevant support
• Looking for and ordering hard-to-find materials
• Suggestions to create or improve projects
• Providing funding to support service-learning projects through mini-grants (see the mini-grant application)

Deb Yazulla Sharpe, the Educational Programs Coordinator, is the main point of contact for K-12 teacher support services. Please contact her via e-mail or at (719) 227-8271 for more information on how the Partnership for Civic Engagement can assist you in integrating service-learning into the classroom.

Please view our service learning guidebook for an overview of service-learning theory, examples, curriculum, local non-profit partners, and project ideas.

Service-Learning Teacher Trainings are offered to give interested teachers a basic foundation for implementing service-learning in their classroom. Trainings were held October 12th and 17th 2007, but stay tuned for future dates.

Any D11 teacher currently implementing service-learning in their classroom, or interested in doing so, are also invited to a series of professional development “Service-Learning Meet-ups” during which educators are encouraged to share ideas, challenges, explore opportunities and network with others.  These Meet-ups are held approximately every six weeks at the Partnership for Civic Engagement at Colorado College, located at 1018 N. Weber Street. 

Contact Deb Yazulla Sharpe for future programming dates and to sign up for trainings or Meet- Ups.

Can you use support for your classroom service-learning project?

Through the Service-Learning Corps (S-L Corps), a CC student partners with one K-12 or CC teacher.  Over the course of a semester or full-year, the S-L Corps member acts as support for the teacher as they plan and implement a service-learning project.  S-L Corps members supports teachers in a variety of ways, including direct work with students and some work that can be done off-site.  The work schedule is determined by the teacher and S-L Corps members.  

Members of the S-L Corps may help teachers with any of the following depending on educator needs and student comfort.  This list is not comprehensive but offers an example of what work may entail:

• Explaining service-learning to a class or community member
• Working with small groups of students throughout the process
• Recruiting class speakers
• Teaching a lesson to the whole class
• Researching tools for reflection, how to incorporate youth voice and demonstration
• Creating lesson plans for the service-learning project
• Presenting to the class about an area of expertise related to the project (i.e. local ecology)
• Making connections with local nonprofits or individuals in the community
• Facilitating connections to the media to publicize project
• Seeking and apply for funding for the project
• Other duties as determined by the team

Please see the job description and teacher application for more details on this exciting new program.