Service Learning
Service Learning is a formal and integral part of the curriculum for our students at Coyote Willow Family School, grades Kinder through 8th grade.
Our students will engage with service learning projects in order to become globally literate, build empathy, and develop community connections.
In our middle school program, students participate in Friday Leadership Rotations:
Our sixth-graders will volunteer an afternoon at Roadrunner Food Bank learning about the needs of the hungry in our community. They will take a tour of the facility, learn how the food bank operates and engage in some form of hands-on work, like the packaging of beans for distribution. Additionally, 6th graders manage campus beautification processes, including landscaping cleanup, litter patrol, and the campus gardens.
Seventh-graders will explore the restoration and conservation efforts in the Bosque areas of Albuquerque. For their project, they will partner with Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Project (BEMP) which focuses on the stewardship of the Bosque and the Rio Grande River. They will have a seminar on the Bosque and the BEMP ideals in the fall, followed by the introduction of their project: the preservation of young cottonwood trees. Like all Inquiry projects, they will have a few months to research, gather supplies and prepare for their day of service in the Bosque which will likely be in late March or early April. All students that participate in the BEMP programs are then invited to present their work in a colloquium setting in Bernalillo in late April. Additionally, 7th grade students manage the campus recycling program.
During the eighth-grade year, students will have the opportunity to choose and design their own project. As a group, they will research a real world problem or issue, brainstorm solutions, and then individually complete a year-long project to implement their findings. With the help and insight from parents, teachers and community volunteers, our 8 th graders will be able to work directly with local agencies to put their talents and ideas into a tangible form to benefit our community. We expect to see our 8th graders reaching out into the community, engaging with local organizations and non-profits to help them find solutions to problems through year-long inquiry and data collection.
