Project SO-PREPARED for Citizenship is a Rivier College service-learning initiative presently entering its fifth year of operation in the greater Nashua, New Hampshire area. Drawing on the talents and energy of both college and high school students enrolled in service learning courses, this weekly after school enrichment program offers citizenship training and character education to students at two local elementary schools.
At the heart of Project SO-PREPARED is the four-person learning team. Education majors, students from other majors at Rivier College, and students from Nashua High School and Bishop Guertin High School work with students from Dr. Crisp Elementary School and Presentation of Mary Academy in weekly after school meetings to develop skills, tutor, socialize, and engage in recreation activities. Through these activities, the program seeks to build character and create responsible citizens by working on such skills as collaboration, problem-solving, active listening, and mentoring through various projects in art, mathematics, and literature. The after school lessons are coordinated with monthly character education themes from the formal elementary level curriculum.
The after school program is supported by over thirty service-learning courses at Rivier College. Service learning is a graduation requirement for Rivier students, and most fulfill this curricular obligation by taking a “”plus one”" credit option attached to one of their regular classes. Under this arrangement, students earn an additional academic credit for a class by performing a service activity (such as Project SO-PREPARED) and doing additional readings, papers, journals, portfolios, etc. related to their service project. Faculty development of the “”plus one”" options was made possible by generous funding from the Lilly Endowment and the Council of Independent Colleges. Alternatively, students may enroll in SL 100 Learning and Serving in Community, an independent one credit service class specifically geared to Project SO-PREPARED, which is also open, free of charge, to the high school students participating in the program.
Administration and coordination of Project SO-PREPARED is under the able leadership of Professor Howard Muscott of the Education Department, in cooperation with Rivier’s Center for Peace and Social Justice. A formal planning and implementation team, composed of representatives from Rivier, the two high schools, and the two elementary schools, oversees the ongoing progress of SO-PREPARED.
Contact person: Darlene Nadeau, Coordinator for Service Learning
Service Learning home page: http://www.rivier.edu/academics/service-learn/
