Club Read: Spring Into Action
"Spring Into Action" Booklists
Printable PDFs
Research
Educators are once again embracing a mission to support citizen engagement within their schools— i.e., teaching students to become more active and helpful in schools, and within the community—according to Reasons To Teach Philanthropy at http://learningtogive.org. The Carnegie Corporation of New York and The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) notes that "Schools are the only institutions with the capacity and mandate to reach virtually every young person in the country, ….and are best equipped to address the cognitive aspects of good citizenship."
The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) suggests that students should be encouraged and given the opportunity to make positive contributions to the well-being of fellow students and the school.
In general, people, including children, want to be helpful, but they are sometimes unsure of what is needed and what they can do. Many times, the belief that "someone else is already handling it" leads to a missed opportunity: to help and share a unique perspective, and to experience the positive feelings of "making a difference."
Encourage our virtual generation to find their sense of purpose by participating in real-life situations where they can use their skills to help others. Let the booklists above from Perma-Bound challenge your students to "spring into action!"