Creating change at Truesdell EC, part VIII: Reflecting on success

During the DC SCORES spring season, each of our 44 teams go through a four-step service-learning process that involves A) Identifying problems that need addressing in their community; B) Researching one issue; C) Implementing a project to make a difference in the community; and D) Reflecting on the impact they made.

This spring, DC SCORES intern Kristen Miano is following the Truesdell Education Campus (elementary school) Trojans as they go through the service-learning process. Read below and watch each week’s video to learn how DC SCORES empowers youth to create change around them. You can also view photos from Truesdell HERE and follow Kristen's Tweets HERE.

Previous Series posts:
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII

------------------------------

Written by Kristen Miano
Digital Media Intern

The winner of the Truesdell Trojans “DC SCORES: Pick it Up!” trash cleanup competition was the third-grade class. The team kicked off their final lesson of the season delivering the prizes and goody bags to the third-grade classrooms before settling back in to reflect on all they had accomplished this spring.

“We picked up all the trash in the school and cleaned up the bathrooms,” said Kerwin V., age 10. “By picking up the trash, we made the school better.”

Kerwin’s sentiments were echoed by nearly all the students, who felt they had created real change at Truesdell by putting up posters and encouraging other students to pick up after themselves.

“I learned that it’s fun to pick up trash and that we can ask other people to help improve our community,” said Daniela P., age 9.

With such success from their service-learning project, the Trojans took the time to discuss not only what they learned this season but also what some of their favorite parts of the spring were.

“I liked when (janitor) Ms. Duckett came in and gave her presentation,” Daniela said.

Yocelyn M., age 10, said that her favorite memory was when everyone worked together to assemble prizes..

“I learned that it’s really important to start cleaning because it’s very important to take care of our school,” Yocelyn said.

The team spent their last day together answering reflection questions to help prompt discussion, and decorating the poster board they proudly displayed at the DC SCORES Jamboree! to show the other schools what their project was.

Overall, the Trojans put in a lot of hard work and effort into their project. They learned how to research a topic, make a plan and work together as a group to accomplish their goals. Their efforts not only taught them how to develop an action plan, but also left their school a cleaner and brighter place for everyone.