Students Combine Community Involvement and Classroom Success in LCHS Gives Back Program

LCHS students are getting a firsthand lesson in community action and giving back through a new project.

Katy Cecil’s five periods can get involved in a student-led program: LCHS Gives Back. The program collaborates with various community organizations to fulfill needs throughout the year.

To get started, Cecil brought representatives to talk to students. Groups included Family Resource and Youth Service Centers from ALES and HES, Shepherd’s Pie, Department for Community Based Services (DCBS), Springhaven, and Head Start.

“This gave the students a chance to hear what the organizations do and what their needs are, and it gave them a chance to ask questions, too,” Cecil said.

After listening to the representatives, students then coordinate on how to get those resources to the groups. Through the nine week project, each class period also works to bring more awareness to their respective organizations. The plan for the program is to do two more organizations next semester. Cecil spends time on Fridays working on it in all of her classes. They even established a website (listed at the end of the article) to track progress and promote the programs.

“We encourage our students to think critically about how they can make a positive impact on the world, while also learning important skills such as teamwork, leadership, and communication,” the program’s website said.

All of these skills are part of a larger mission to support the county’s Profile of a Learner program.

The LaRue County School system’s Profile of a Learner exists to map out how students can learn real-world skills in the classroom setting. The ultimate goal is for them to apply that knowledge upon leaving the classroom. Cecil’s classes get to both learn and practice skills fit for both the classroom and the real world.

“I was very interested in the work the district was doing on the Profile of a Learner, and I had looked at the materials that the Kentucky Department of Education had put out on this same initiative,” Cecil said. “I know how closely those qualities are tied to success in school, in the workplace, and, honestly, in life, so I started to think about a way I could incorporate them into a year-long Project Based Learning unit for my classes.”

Cecil said there are numerous ways that the LCHS Gives Back program aligns with Learner Profiles.

“It’s real-world,” she said. “They have deadlines. They have an end goal. It’s been great, so far.”

Cecil said community involvement will play an additional role in helping students reach their goals.

“When the community steps up and helps them reach those goals, it will light a fire in them that will burn for a long time,” she said. “Coming up with a project, putting it in motion, and seeing it succeed gives a person a powerful desire to do it again.”

To learn more about the students’ programs, visit www.lchsgivesback.org