project eli: exploring life intentionally: “…then eli ......making of those connections. then,...
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HankBarnes,KallieBrook,KatieChancellor, MattCrawford,SharonDay,KaDariusGriggs,DariusJordan,
CoreyMorgan,AnnaMorman,JessicaMorton,LaurenVenters,AstiWhite
Citations Journal of Undergraduate Research © May 2017, Vol. 14
0
Project ELI: Exploring Life Intentionally:
“…then Eli perceived that God was calling the child…” - I Samuel 3:8 Servant Scholars Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Jack Slay Abstract This report describes the efforts put forward by the fourth cohort of the Servant Scholars
Program towards their senior capstone project, Project ELI. This project was primarily aimed
toward making an impact on youth in the public school system. It was the idea of the Scholars
that we could fill the gaps left by public education by engaging students with lessons on topics
not covered in the classroom. The main concentration of Project ELI was at Franklin Forest
Elementary School, where the Scholars taught lessons on bullying, teamwork, and understanding
the environment through learning experiences in the school garden. In order to influence the
future of some elementary school students, the Servant Scholars chose to bring students from
both Hollis Hand Elementary School and Hogansville Elementary School onto LaGrange
College’s campus. This was done in an effort to show students what is possible for their futures
and prove to them that with hard work and determination they can follow their passions into a
career. In addition to working with elementary students, the Scholars were able to impact both
the young and the old with a Fall Festival for the residents and family members of those at
LaGrange Health and Rehab. Finally, in keeping with the traditions started by the first cohort of
Servant Scholars it was the decision of this cohort to continue to serve at Our Daily Bread in
HankBarnes,KallieBrook,KatieChancellor, MattCrawford,SharonDay,KaDariusGriggs,DariusJordan,
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order to meet a need in the community. By remembering the commitment of previous Servant
Scholars, and adding our own goals, the cohort was able to meet the needs of different age
groups, different regions, and different backgrounds across the LaGrange community. Project
ELI represents the effort of the fourth Servant Scholars cohort to go beyond the fundamental,
academic education of elementary students and move toward a more well-rounded, intentional
learning.
Introduction
Actress Marla Gibbs once said: “The reason most of the children are having problems in
any inner-city neighborhood is because they don't see enough positive role models in their own
environment” (BrainyQuote). As a cohort, the Servant Scholar class of 2017 proposed a project
that touched on the issues that children face and allowed the group a chance to give back to a
portion of the community that would benefit from it the most. While volunteering during their
junior year at various service sites like West Georgia Star, Franklin Forest Elementary, and The
Boys & Girls Club from the past year, it was realized that being a mentor to children is a
beneficial way to give back to the community.
Project ELI (Exploring Life Intentionally) can be described as a project that enlightens
youth, educates, and gives back. We found a beneficial way to give back to the community
would be to partner with the Title I school Franklin Forest Elementary, Title I meaning “schools
with high numbers or high percentages of children from low income families” (U.S. Department
HankBarnes,KallieBrook,KatieChancellor, MattCrawford,SharonDay,KaDariusGriggs,DariusJordan,
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of Education). After having a connection with Franklin Forest Elementary from the past year, the
cohort decided what better way to explore project ELI than here. Talking with the principal,
Lindsey Barnes, and the school counselor, Lindsey Morris, we were able to find out problems
that the faculty currently faces with their students and what the students needed the most. Mrs.
Morris added “A need for extra hands for love. A need for the children. The teachers here at FFE
want a class for their students that accomplishes the same goals that we have”. After observation
and input from the counselor, we realized that students lack authoritative figures in their life and
positive role models. We figured without these key things in their lives it affects their behavior in
and out of school, how they look at themselves, and how they may treat others. With that in
mind, we began to create a curriculum that would touch on all those points but at the
same time create a fun learning experience for the students. With a 12-week lesson plan, we were
able to introduce topics such as teamwork, gardening, environmental science, and bullying, all of
which were able to work hand in hand. We found that Project Eli is a great way to meet the
wants of the faculty while simultaneously meeting the needs of the students.
Literature Review
When choosing what to read and research, we wanted it to all be centered around our
upcoming work with the students of Franklin Forest, specifically the fourth and fifth graders. As
stated in The Road to Character, “We live in a society that encourages us to think about how to
have a great career but leaves many of us inarticulate about how to cultivate the inner life”
HankBarnes,KallieBrook,KatieChancellor, MattCrawford,SharonDay,KaDariusGriggs,DariusJordan,
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(Brooks, 2015). Seeing this as an issue, we set out to create a class that covered many different
aspects of life that were not being sufficiently covered in the classroom. This project stemmed
from the needs we saw at our Junior year service sites. Through our service with students, we
noticed that students are losing the ability to converse well with others. The Adolescent
Development, Relationships, and Culture proposed that this could be due to the increased use of
internet at younger ages. Dolgin found that 60% of juveniles connect with internet at least once a
day if not more (Dolgin, 2011). This, combined with our connections with Franklin Forest,
sparked the focus of Project ELI.
Our main goal was to build relationships. We wanted to not only build relationships with
the students, but create a “joint venture” between our cohort and Franklin Forest Elementary
(Rickett, 2002, pg. 22). This venture is to create a curriculum for these students where they can
learn about relationships through lessons on teamwork and bullying and learn about their
environment through hands on learning in the Franklin Forest garden. Another major part of our
venture was to give students a little more individual attention. We did this by having multiple
scholars present during every lesson. Rotbart says, “If you don’t listen to your kids, really
listen, your time is wasted” (Rotbart, 2012, pg. 39). Although Rotbart’s statement is directed at
the parent-child relationship, it is also extremely applicable to our project. With more Scholars
being present, we could break off into smaller groups, and this allowed students time to speak
and be heard. In Raising Confident Boys: 100 Tips for Parents and Teachers, Elizabeth Hartley-
Brewer proclaims that you can know what is happening inside a child’s mind by listening to how
they speak about themselves and others (Hartley-Brewer, 2000). This tip was extremely
HankBarnes,KallieBrook,KatieChancellor, MattCrawford,SharonDay,KaDariusGriggs,DariusJordan,
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important when approaching topics such as bullying and cyberbullying. Our small groups gave
us an opportunity to use this tip. Students were able to open up about experiences in a safe and
nurturing setting.
With our backgrounds as Scholars ranging from English to Theatre to Chemistry, not
many of us had any experience working with students, and only one or two of us had experience
working with older elementary students. This meant that we as a cohort had to really learn how
to interact and understand the students with whom we were working. Many of our books gave us
insights and strategies on how to connect with these slightly older students. In the Middle, by
Nancie Atwell, taught us by putting students in small groups we can expect them to be more
productive. She also said, “…demonstrate what’s possible, teach what’s useful, establish the
conditions that invite engagement, and support the hard work of the students” (2015). This is
what we strived to do with each lesson. All activities were hands on and had a very large student
work aspect built into the projects. Feinstein in Secrets of the Teenage Brain also supports this
engaging lesson style with her book. She says “Our first objective as teachers is to capture
students’ attention. If we don’t gain their attention, the chance that they’ll learn anything is
remote at best” (2013).
As we were planning the lessons and the structure of the class, we found ourselves
looking for help and advice from people in the community. Everywhere we looked, we found
people ready and willing to help us create a class that embodied community. James Vallbracht’s
book, Stopping at Every Lemonade Stand, gave us a guide on how to reach these students and the
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community they are surrounded by. Just as his book outlines, we started with the individual
students by building relationships and just showing up and showing interest. By planning
activities that focused on specific things that the students needed, we started off strong in the
making of those connections. Then, we connected our project and the school to local “assets.”
(2001) With our garden activities, we wanted to connect the school with a community garden
expert. Doug Roberts is a local farmer that we connected with to gain advice about the
gardening lessons. He gave us insights into how to run a sustainable garden and make it fun for
the students at the same time. It is this connection between a school and an outside partner that
Kretzmann and McKnight speak about in their book, Building Communities from the Inside Out
(1993). While pursuing the garden, we leaned on The Book of Gardening Projects for Kids
(Cohen, 2012). We used this book combined with the teachings of Doug Roberts to create
lessons where students could be actively involved and take ownership of the projects happening
in the garden.
Part of the purpose and mission of Project ELI was to not only make an immediate
influence on the students but also to impact the futures of elementary students. This is
something that colleges all over the nation are starting to do by bringing elementary students
onto their campuses, so when we had the opportunity to bring students to our campus, we
jumped at it. “We are seeking to create an affinity for the postsecondary education at an early
age by providing exposure to our campus that is inclusive to first-generation, economically
disadvantaged, and underrepresented populations” (University of Washington, 2015).
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This statement inspired us to bring any students available to experience LaGrange
College’s campus. We found these students at Hogansville Elementary School. One of the 7
Habits of Highly Effective Teens is to magnify your talents. (Covey, 1998, pg. 41) Using the
successful tour format from a previous cohort, we were able to show the students that virtually
any passion or talent could be turned into a career path with the right work and classes. We
exposed students to as many different pathways as possible so that students would find
something to connect with.
The Problem
Franklin Forest Elementary School
First opened: August 9th 2005 80,806 square feet
38 classrooms 41 interactive smartboards
2 computer labs
Franklin Forest Elementary was selected as the main focus for Project E.L.I. because it
corresponds with goals set by the class of 2017 Servant Scholar cohort – to solve specific
problems facing the youth in our community. It is an immersive project that focuses on building
relationships to address a problem facing our immediate community.
Franklin Forest first opened in 2005; 411 students enrolled, 46% minority and 54% non-
minority. 51% of the student body received free or reduced meals; 49% paid full price. Below
you will find two charts illustrating a demographic breakdown by grade and other measurements
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of change.
As of Fall 2016, 732 students, 380 males and 352 females, occupy the halls of Franklin
Forest Elementary. The minorities have grown to majorities, and there has been a 25% decrease
of students that pay full price for their meals, as well as the increase of students who receive free
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and reduced meal prices. 12 additional classrooms were added in 2014 to lodge the increase
number of students.
Franklin Forest Elementary explained that they wanted to establish an inaugural
exploratory program for their fourth and fifth grade students in the 2016-2017 academic
year. After consulting with the school counselor, Lindsey Morris, and the principal,
Lindsey Barnes, it was decided that our cohort could step in and have as much control
over the classroom instruction as desired. In addition, Franklin Forest Elementary was
willing to let us work with After School Enrichment (ASE).
ASE is an after-school program in Troup County. It is offered at Franklin Forest for
kindergarten through fifth grade students. The purpose of ASE is to provide a safe, relaxed
environment for students to have snack, work on homework, and other supervised activities until
6pm Monday-Friday.
As a Title I school, Franklin Forest is not capable of providing monetary support to
students. Our primary role has been to engage the fourth and fifth grade students in what they
are learning through interactive lessons. Through these we aim to provide positive support and
positive life skills that will stick with these students as they progress in their education.
Observation Stage
Classroom observations have many valid and important purposes. A couple of
fundamental reasons for observing classrooms are to examine current practices, behaviors, and
issues facing the students. Before heading into the classrooms, we already had a general idea of
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the dynamic of the specific school we chose to partner with. This basically included the
background of the children that we would be working with. Franklin Forest Elementary (FFE) is
deemed as a Title I Elementary School. We knew that a majority of the students we would come
in contact with would be coming from low-income homes.
Having this background knowledge of the demographics of the children attending FFE
told us a lot. A child’s home life has a strong impact on school readiness. According to Ferguson
(2007), “Children from low-income families often do not receive the stimulation and do not learn
the social skills required to prepare them for school” (pg. 6). Ferguson (2007) concluded that
children from low-income households have said issues due to “parental inconsistency (with
regard to daily routines and parenting), frequent changes of primary caregivers, lack of
supervision, and poor role modeling” (pg. 7). This leads to the area that we as a cohort wanted to
target and help the children improve in these areas.
In order for us to have a positive impact, we had to conquer the elephant in the room,
trust. As Ferguson stated, the children hardly have consistency in their life. With that comes
mistrust. How could we expect the children who can hardly trust their own family to open up and
listen to what twelve complete strangers have to say? We made it imperative to consistently
show up to the school and classrooms during fall semester to slowly grow relationships with the
children and their teachers as well. This showed just how serious we were about what we wanted
to accomplish.
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12 Lessons in 12 Weeks
Leading up to the 12 weeks of lessons, the Servants Scholars were interested in sharing
essential life skills that are not often taught or practiced within the classroom. In our study, we
found students engaging and experiencing new life obstacles with a stronger mindset after the 12
week lessons. Expanding outside of the classroom curriculum, students had a spark in
enthusiasm, and the response rate to what they desired was powerful. In an effort of
accomplishing this, we thought about teaching manners, etiquette, and other important measures
for growing up. We imagined having lessons on shaking hands, looking at someone in the eyes
while speaking, respecting elders, tying a tie and much more. The formulation of these lessons
came about in a different way than we expected after we spent time building new relationships
and understanding the needs of the school community.
After a time of observation in the fall of 2016, the Servant Scholars and Franklin Forest
school counselor, Lindsay Morris, came together and organized more concrete plans that
involved the students participating in activities outside the classroom. The 12 weeks of lessons
were created to focus on three main areas. We took our observations from the fall, and we gave
attention to the challenges that students faced. Our cohort intentionally designed lessons that
would both teach and build students up in their successes and explain the importance for failures
within the classroom and academic experience. Obstacles that Franklin Forest Elementary
students were facing revolved around bullying, teamwork, and utilizing the school garden. The
environment in which the elementary students reside in for eight hours each day has a significant
influence on their long term learning. In each area of focus, we were able to facilitate lessons that
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helped students and their development in experiential learning, along with other key
developmental areas such as social, emotional, physical, and academic.
Throughout the 12-week experience, the Servant Scholars engaged the Franklin Forest
Elementary students particularly in a span of 45-minute rotation periods. During those rotations,
4 to 5 times each week, the Servant Scholars would interact with 4th grade and/or 5th grade
students from a new rotation. The lessons stayed consistent for an entire week's worth of
rotations, where the lessons would then change in a new week. The new curriculum was shared
on a rotation schedule for intentional purposes to teach new things from new perspectives each
week and keep it vivid. Each of the three main areas that the Scholars focused on had specific
lessons that were considered to be highlights for the students. It was evident that the lessons
impacted the students in such a way that they began to take ownership of the lesson and be
responsible in carrying out the lessons in their daily lives. One of our successful lessons in the
bullying category came from Scholar KaDarius Griggs, a lesson called Wrinkled Wanda.
Wrinkled Wanda provided an opportunity for the students to break into small groups and
brainstorm the array degrading comments that are said to them or their classmates. This opened
an opportunity for dialogue with students. The students wrote the negative comments on Wanda
and once they finished filling up Wanda completely, they balled this piece of paper up into a ball
and smashed it as if they were truly bullying Wanda. After passing this wrinkled, balled up,
crushed paper that we called Wanda, the students then opened Wanda up and flattened Wanda to
the best of their ability. In doing so, we challenged the students to make Wanda’s appearance
look brand new. As they flattened and smoothed Wanda out, students then wrote positive and
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upbuilding comments around Wanda. Students found how giving positive encouragement or a
compliment takes longer than spouting out degrading comments, and although it takes longer,
the students saw the power in building up their peers versus breaking them down.
Next, Matt Crawford, the Scholars gardening portion of curriculum designer, says that
“allowing the kids to plant their own plants gave them ownership of the garden at Franklin
Forest.” The lesson design explained foundational elements to gardening and the importance of
nutrients, light, and temperature. Each of these factors have an important part in the stages of life
for a plant, and the students were able to visualize that happen as the weeks continued and they
checked their plants.
Finally, we included lessons centered around teamwork and shared how necessary it is
that individuals come together to accomplish a goal. We also discussed the importance of
community. The Scholars worked closely together and found that one of our most successful
teamwork lessons came from Scholar, Darius Jordan, where he designed a lesson that enabled
the student to communicate, create, and think strategically as they solved problems. The students
had to design a free standing straw tower that held a tennis ball.
School Experience Survey
After a semester of observing the children of Franklin Forest and discussions with the school
counselor, the Servant Scholars of 2017 decided bullying, teamwork, and gardening would be the
focus for the next semester. A very simple survey composing of 10 questions was created to give
the students with the focus of answering three questions: 1. “Are the students of Franklin Forest
in need of our Lessons?”, 2. “Will the students be receptive to the lessons?”, and 3. “Did our
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lessons have any measurable effectiveness with the students?”. The questions were created with
the intent of being simple yes or no questions that any student, regardless of their literacy, could
answer without having to weigh too heavily on any one question.
1. Are you in a sport or club? 2. Do you work well with others? 3. Do you get bullied? 4. Is being nice important? 5. Do you call people mean names? 6. Is school fun? 7. Do you like school? 8. Do you have a best friend? 9. Do you like the outdoors? 10. Is gardening important?
The 10 questions can be placed into four categories: Teamwork, Bullying, Gardening, and
School Experience. Each of the 5th grade classes we worked with were given the survey at least
once and once more to a majority of the 5th graders. 5th graders were the only one surveyed
because of our time constraints and the choice of Mrs. Morris.
School Experience questions, questions 6-8, were used to determine the overall outlook
the students had on school and potential receptiveness to the lessons. A group of students with a
very negative outlook on school would supply our cohort with a different issue to solve, but
nearly 80% of kids liked school, about 60% thought school was fun and nearly 100% of kids had
a best friend. The students had an overall positive opinion of school, but 40% agreed school was
not fun. This fact left us with the task to make our lesson fun and interactive for the students.
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In the fall, the garden was in no shape to be used and clearly had not been utilized in the
recent years prior to our arrival. We found this as an opportunity to add fun into learning, as well
as an additional component to their learning. Gardening questions, questions 9 and 10, both had
very positive feedback. 97% of the students enjoyed the outdoors, and 78% saw there was some
importance in gardening. This led us to believe they would be receptive and excited to get
outside of their typical classroom and learn in a more hands on environment.
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The National Bullying Prevention Center states that “more than one out of every five
(20.8%) students report being bullied” (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2016). This is
an alarmingly high number, but the students of Franklin Forest report an addition 16.5% more
than the national average. One might assume kids do not see being nice as important, but that is
not the case here. Nearly 97% of the students claimed they believe being nice is actually
important, but only 19% admitted to bullying by name calling. This served as evidence that
lessons on bullying were needed, but not solely to reiterate that bullying is bad. Lessons would
need to show what bullying looked like and its physical and psychological effects.
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“Working effectively as part of a team is incredibly important for output quality, morale,
and retention”, according to Edmond Lau in “Why and Where is Teamwork Important?” by
Forbes Magazine (Lau, 2013). Teamwork is an art form that need be taught through active
learning and interactions of people like-minded and not. Of the surveyed students, 90% answered
yes to working well with others. Only 55% of the students reported to being in a club or a sport.
Clubs and sports offer kids the opportunity to work in teams to accomplish a single objective.
With most lessons being taught on a smart-board, this led us to believe students were lacking
group interactions and teamwork exercises. This fact added an additional necessity for the twelve
lessons. The lessons would need to add fun into learning, but also allow for active teamwork.
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Further research would need to be done to explore the effectiveness of the lessons.
Although the survey was given a second time, the students answered differently only by an
insignificant percentage. If the survey was given a third time, giving the survey to only students
who had received all lessons would be more ideal and could expect to receive different results
than students who had not received equal lessons. Due to the nature of school scheduling, breaks,
and unforeseen obstacles, certain classes would go a week without a lesson and not receive the
specific lesson. The nature of the questions could also be an issue to measure effectiveness of the
lessons. Lesson-specific questions or questions directly pertaining to the lessons taught could be
a promising avenue for the teachers of the school to incorporate later into the school year.
College Tours
The 2017 Servant Scholars wanted to continue pursuing kids to come on campus, so that
we could build a better connection between the college and the community. This is why we came
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together as a group of individuals to help educate Hogansville and Hollis Hand Elementary for
what kind of future they could have and obtain if they work hard in school. To do this, we
invited them to the college to learn about everything LaGrange has to offer, including the
different majors and careers they could pursue. To do this, we got help from a variety of
professors and students who helped teach about their professions. This was done so that the
students could hear from different disciplines in order to learn what might peak their interests.
We wanted to keep the students intrigued, and we wanted to make sure they knew how simple it
could be to attend LaGrange College once they were old enough.
To help engage the kids, we had a couple of the Servant Scholars set up and do a science
experiment. The experiment, called the “whoosh bottle,” had lessons in both combustion and
condensation allowing several different concepts to be explained to the kids. We also had
admissions talk to the kids about how important good grades are and how having a good GPA is
important for getting into a good school, so that they will be able to pursue what they want.
Our overall focus for Project ELI is on youth. We wanted to reach out to them and teach
them that there is more beyond middle school and high school, and we want them to think that
school is fun and exciting. The Servant Scholars worked together as a team to have this tour day
run as smoothly as possible. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience overall for both
tours because not only did we enjoy it immensely but so did the kids and teachers we invited
onto campus.
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Our Daily Bread
Our cohort decided that continuing to serve at Our Daily Bread was going to be a crucial
part of Project ELI. During Fall of 2016, we worked to ensure that Our Daily Bread continued to
operate with the same level of care as the day it was founded. Our Daily Bread was started in
2013 by the first cohort of Servant Scholars that sought to meet an immediate need in the
community. One of the Servant Scholars, at the time, realized that those in need of a meal in
LaGrange had an option to eat for free at a local soup kitchen every day of the week except for
Friday. Seeing that need, the Servant Scholars stepped up and found a way to fill it. Partnering
with Broad Street Church of Christ, in order to have access to kitchen facilities, the Servant
Scholars started Our Daily Bread. Our Daily Bread is different from the average soup kitchen;
instead of having our guests stand in line to get a plate, we allow them to be seated while we
serve their meal. In addition to serving our guests, all volunteers sit down and eat with the Our
Daily Bread soup kitchen guests. This allows the Scholars to develop relationships with the
guests that extend out from Our Daily Bread and back into the community. These relationships
allow the Scholars to get to know the day to day struggles that our guests face and offer them a
kind word through fellowship.
In the Spring of 2017 we, like all other cohorts before us, transitioned to give the junior
Servant Scholars more control over Our Daily Bread. This is done in order to ensure ownership
over the soup kitchen and that the mission of Our Daily Bread will continue to be carried on for
years to come. Being involved in the community is a key part of being a Servant Scholar.
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Proposed Solutions/What We Leave Behind
In the spring of 2016, the cohort began planning for what Project ELI would eventually
become. During the planning process, it became clear that the targeted audience of the plan
would be children in elementary school. The goal of Project ELI, as mentioned throughout this
paper, is to impact our targeted age group of kids—fourth and fifth graders. In order to impact
the learning of the students, the cohort decided to focus primarily on three different topics:
gardening, bullying, and teamwork. Our cohort knew that the lessons would be the most
impactful form of communication with the kids.
Since we knew the lessons would be something that would last long past our time at
Franklin Forest, we decided, as a cohort, to leave the lessons behind. The 12 lessons were left
with Lindsay Morris so she could use them to incorporate with her counseling lesson, or with the
fourth and fifth grade exploratory classes. Before our cohort began working with students at
Franklin Forest, there was a hope that exploratory classes could be used to do fun activities
outside of the classroom. Our presence at the school made that hope a reality. By choosing
Franklin Forest Elementary, we left behind a realistic and exciting way to address the lesson
plans for an exploratory class. We gave the school a test run of what it would be like to
implement the new system, and both kids and scholars had fun in the process. The goal of
incorporating the garden was to establish a connection between each child and the garden.
In addressing the question of what our cohort leaves behind, at Franklin Forest, it is first
important to take the role of education into consideration. The primary focus of the lessons was
to provide information that would not necessarily be covered in the classroom that could also be
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useful outside the classroom such as communication, listening skills, and teamwork. We taught
them how to play teamwork-based games, which corresponded with the goal of engaging the
students before the lesson because, “If we don’t gain their attention, the chance that they’ll learn
anything is remote at best” (Feinstein, 2013). Teaching trust between classmates was an
important goal that we hope remains part of the Franklin Forest curriculum. In order to make that
hope a reality, we gave the 12 lessons to Lindsay Morris to use for future teaching situations.
The true test of the long-term impact our cohort made on the students and faculty at
Franklin Forest will be evident in the future lesson plans that incorporate the use of teamwork
games or the Franklin Forest garden. Of course, the immediate impact is hopefully felt in the
relationships made with the students and teachers, but if our lesson plans stick around more
fourth and fifth graders’ education will be influenced. The goal of our cohort, naturally, was to
make a difference in the lives of the students we worked with, and the best way to do that is to
show up to the school, which we did each week of the semester.
Ultimately, we hope the teachers acquire segments of our lesson plans and implement
them in their own lesson plans during the next academic year. The longevity of our lesson plans
and use of the garden will meet the criteria for Greenleaf’s test of servant leadership, while the
relationships we formed with the people at Franklin Forest will meet the criteria of making an
immediate impact in the community.
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Greenleaf’s Test
During the creation, implementation, and concluding weeks of project ELI, our cohort
continuously returned to Robert Greenleaf’s test of servant leadership. We wished to create a
lasting impact within our community and accomplish each component of the test which states:
“The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other
people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do
those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more
autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least
privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?” (Greenleaf, 2008,
pg.15)
Our cohort was able to study servant leadership and successfully implement it throughout
the various groups we worked with. While our main focus was with youth in the public-school
system, our work within the rest of the community allowed us to make an impact on the lives of
people regardless of age. Working with various elementary schools, Our Daily Bread, and
LaGrange Health and Rehab not only showed the diverse passions of the Servant Scholars, but
gave us the opportunity to make the maximum impact in our community in the shortest time
possible.
Making the decision to continue to work with Our Daily Bread ensured that the program
would last at least another few years. The unique approach of interacting with those served at
ODB helps to feed them physically, as well as emotionally and spiritually. The college tours
expanded students’ minds and education and gave them a positive future to aspire to. Working
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with LaGrange Health and Rehab expanded our reach from the youngest to the oldest members
of our community, all of whom are equally important.
Our year-long dedication to the children at Franklin Forest Elementary had its challenges
and difficulties, but the struggles will quickly be forgotten, and the influence we had on the
children will last forever. The educational aspect has taught them to be “healthier, wiser, freer,
more autonomous” and the personal connections made between students and Servant Scholars
may be what they need to be servant leaders in their own lives. For many students, they did not
know many college students, and our positive influence changed their views on the importance
of education. Throughout our time there, we witnessed students becoming eager to learn and
experience things outside of their comfort zone.
Our twelve lessons focused on areas of need in the school and provided children with a
safe space to discuss difficult topics such as bullying and the importance of teamwork. During
our time there, we already began to notice these students influencing other Franklin Forest
students and also bringing these lessons into their own homes and communities. Faculty and
staff at Franklin Forest Elementary were also affected by our presence in the school. Teachers
will be able to take components of our lessons and implement them into their own curriculum.
It is impossible to completely measure and see the extent of our work. Each component of ELI
served a group that helps shape the community as a whole, and a slight change in each group has
the potential to change the entire community. As a cohort, we leave knowing we have been
changed, and we hope our work will continue to change the community long after we’re gone.
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