Posted: Saturday, October 18, 2008 12:00 am
Memorial Middle School will receive the 2008 Citizenship Award from SOLV, a state-wide volunteer organization, at a banquet on Oct. 30. Principal Kathleen Jackson said Memorial was chosen in particular because of the work students have done in cooperation with the city of Albany.
All Memorial students participate in service learning projects, and about 25 students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades take an elective class taught by Tami Tobey that's specifically focused on planning service learning events.
At the beginning of each semester, the students put together a class mission statement, then come up with projects. The process is about teaching students how to take action on their own, Tobey said.
"It's really a big deal," Tobey said of the award. "SOLV only gives one award per year to a school. I think it's great, especially for the students, because these projects are really their projects."
Last year's projects were numerous, including planting trees, planning gardens, creating murals and mosaics, ramping up recycling and cleaning up the school.
Most of this year's projects are still in the works, with the recycling and school clean-up day set.
Democrat-Herald