Service Projects Matter!

Rake the Town

This last year, our co-op has been encouraging our scholars to plan service projects. Its been interesting because we are trying to invite as many families from our co-op to participate in these projects as possible, which includes very young children. Including everyone isn't always possible, but the attempt to do so has effected the planning and focus of the projects a bit.

Consider including service projects as part of mentoring. Here are some ways that service projects can benefit you and those you mentor:

• Service brings us out of ourselves, allowing us to have gratitude for our blessings.
• Creating projects with a goal and an end date provides real-world practice with leadership skills.
• Discovering new challenges and encountering new experiences helps everyone grow.
• Many of these projects require teamwork. Learning to work with others is an essential life skill. 
• Once a person begins to think about looking for service opportunities, they start to see them everywhere. 

Many of the great leadership skills we hope to help those we mentor (or ourselves!) achieve can be strengthened by including service projects as part of our plan when mentoring. This can also help someone who is experiencing core issues and needs to get back to basics. See the benefit from focusing on others for a while and working hard: find a way to include service projects as you mentor.