Public Law 28-41 recognizes the importance of service learning and has mandated it as a requirement for all high school students. Students are required to have earned 75 hours of service learning in order to graduate. All Guam high school students must complete 75 hours of Service Learning to graduate. Service Learning allows students to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-life e
xperiences while simultaneously giving back to the community. Service Learning is a way of teaching and learning that combines community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience. Service Learning helps young people understand the value of giving back to the community. It teaches students, teachers parents and everyday people, whose lives may be touched by a service learning project, the lesson that no matter who you are or where you are from – that through commitment small thoughtful actions can change the world. Through service-learning, young people use what they learn in the classroom to solve real-life problems. They not only learn the practical applications of their studies, they become actively contributing citizens and community members through the service they perform. Service-learning can be applied in a many different settings, including schools, and community-based and faith-based organizations; like Island Girl Power or Catholic Social Services. It can involve a group of students, a classroom or an entire school. Students build character and become active participants as they work with others in their school and community to create service projects in areas such as education, public safety, and the environment. Service Learning is new part of our island community, which has been mandated by Public Law 28-41, and over the next few years, students, teachers and parents will discover that service-learning offers all its participants a chance to take part in the active education of youth while simultaneously addressing the concerns, needs, and hopes of our people, our villages and our collective future as a vibrant multicultural, multilingual pacific democracy.
