Project Need
At Larchmont there’s low engagement between students and the world. Community service has become more commonly implemented into schools but normally in the form of mandatory graduation requirements. This leads to many of these commitments becoming short-term and insignificant, especially due to the lack of resources at a small charter school. The National-Civic-and-Political-Health Survey reports that, “seven percent of 15-25-year-old Americans participated in 10 or more community engagement or political activities within the previous year” (youth.gov, 2006). The insufficient amount of long-term service commitments has created a visible disconnect between members of the community. This is problematic because people aren’t able to make informed decisions and advocate for themselves. In fact people ages 18-29 have the lowest voter turnout. We want to educate and empower students/community members to be knowledgeable when making decisions like voting in addition to encouraging students under 18 to work at their local voting centers (three of our members did so).
The solution to this issue is civic engagement, where communities work together to address a specific issue(s). Our team is planning to increase civic engagement in K-12 systems to create a culture of volunteerism that goes beyond a requirement but is meaningful to the community and volunteers. Service is proven to benefit participants by increasing their social/problem-solving skills, confidence, and political awareness. A study done by WCSU (Western-Connecticut-State-University) shows that since youth mirror the acts of the adults in their lives, it’s beneficial for students to see examples of mentors actively engaged within their community. For community service to be impactful, it needs to be embedded into Larchmont's culture by bridging communities together.
The solution to this issue is civic engagement, where communities work together to address a specific issue(s). Our team is planning to increase civic engagement in K-12 systems to create a culture of volunteerism that goes beyond a requirement but is meaningful to the community and volunteers. Service is proven to benefit participants by increasing their social/problem-solving skills, confidence, and political awareness. A study done by WCSU (Western-Connecticut-State-University) shows that since youth mirror the acts of the adults in their lives, it’s beneficial for students to see examples of mentors actively engaged within their community. For community service to be impactful, it needs to be embedded into Larchmont's culture by bridging communities together.
Our project was focused on direct civic engagement and because of this, we had to cut the project short due to the stay at home order caused by COVID-19.
