Students will investigate key local and national nonprofit organizations by researching their histories, services, and target populations.

Through multiple visits to a retirement home, letter writing, or by inviting seniors to an event, children learn effective communication, sensitivity to people of different generations, and shared experiences while learning about the common good and stewardship.

This lesson introduces the "Living History Project." We begin with sensitivity training, as a pre-service reflection and to help volunteers understand possible needs, disabilities, and attitudes of people with whom they will be working. The training leads children to understand...

Using a brainstormed list of health and safety issue areas, participants design and implement a survey. They poll a group of friends and family to determine what health and safety issues are of greatest concern in their community. 

Learners take action for the common good to promote kindness in their school. They give smiley stickers to others or create posters to display around school with messages that promote kindness or teach people how to respond to bullying behavior.

We each have gifts we can use to give our lives purpose and make the world better. Using our gifts for the good of others can solve problems, if we take bold and selfless action. Even very young people are capable of the kind of selfless actions that create positive change.

In this lesson, the learners write a story about philanthropists, modeled after the documentary The Gift of All. They research or interview a local philanthropist. Each learner writes a biography telling the story of the philanthropist. They share the completed biography with an...

Students write to pen pals in a different community and discuss ideas related to a service project. For example, the pen pals may plan and monitor a canned-good donation project.

Young people identify several advocacy strategies and draw conclusions as to their effectiveness. They research efforts in past advocacy campaigns to learn about people, styles, and effectiveness. 

Young people envision what they would like their shared space or classroom to look like, feel like, and sound like in order for it to be a safe, fair, and fun learning environment. They come to a consensus about what behaviors lead to this goal.