It isn’t a simple task to build traits like gratitude, empathy, and leadership among your students. One valuable first step lies in highlighting how they can give back to their communities through service-oriented work. Whether it's organizing food drives for families in need, raising awareness about important initiatives for our environment, or simply ridding a local park of litter, community service projects can inspire your students to see the world in more positive ways.

Here are some tips on how you can start a community service project in your classroom:

• 1. Encourage your students to research and observe local opportunities where they feel they can make an impact. Students will be far more receptive to enlisting in a service project if they feel they have input in the process.
• 2. Organize a field trip where students can have the opportunity to engage with local service leaders. Guide your students toward meaningful questions they can ask that will help inform them of the impact their actions can make in their communities and the world at large.
• 3. Schedule class time each week to follow up with students, allowing them to provide feedback and suggest new approaches to community service projects. Enable them to organize their own events and find unique approaches to current initiatives.

Full Sail University has contributed to community-focused service projects you can use as inspiration. The Monarch Initiative – a campaign throughout Central Florida that raises awareness about the importance of pollinators – allowed educators, conservationists, students, and citizens of Central Florida to join together to protect pollinators in danger. Partners in the local community planted milkweed, painted murals, and spread awareness in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and Full Sail.

Students and educators from Full Sail’s Simulation & Visualization degree program partnered with local organization CECO to develop new technology to assist individuals impeded by severe neurological disabilities. Full Sail students who worked on this project not only got to aid in the development of now patented technology, but saw firsthand the intrinsic value that comes with contributing to service-oriented work.