Lesson 2

DREAM: Introduction to Service and Identifying Your Goals

About this Lesson:

This lesson examines the basic concepts of goal-setting and service-learning and the key roles that young people can play in the creation and implementation of individual and community goals. It also reviews the goals of Reach Your Peak and National Youth Service Day to set the foundation for the planning process. Students will identify what Reach Your Peak and service means to them and what roles do youth play in shaping a major community event. Young people who recognize the benefits of giving and receiving help, identify the reasons they serve and then discuss ways they can help others in their community will come to understand the concept of service. For more information about the topics addressed in this lesson, please refer to Chapters 1-2 of the RYP/National Youth Service Day Tool Kit. The Appendix also provides Curriculum Connections for this lesson.

Learning Objective:

Students will:

Understand the concept of service and goal-setting;
Have a working definition of service-learning.

Related Books - My Father and the Lima Beans by Paula Underwood

Curricular Connections:

English/LA: Reading, Writing, and Communications
Social Studies: Understanding of culture, analyze conditions to develop understanding, apply geographic skills and knowledge, understand mechanisms used to meet the needs of citizens
Visual Arts: Understand and apply art media

"Everyone can be great because everyone can serve."

-Martin Luther King, Jr., Civil Rights Leader

Michael Davis was a successful talent agent for celebrities such as Jewel and Mike Myers. However, inside he felt that there were a number of personal and community goals that he wanted to achieve to bring more meaning to his life. Michael decided that he would train to climb the "Seven Summits", the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. Less than 30 American’s have ever successfully climbed all of the Seven Summits. But he also wanted to make his own personal goal help meet a community goal of supporting youth who are trying to strengthen their communities through service. Michael decided to mobilize old friends and new friends to create Reach Your Peak, a year-round initiative to empower youth to set and achieve personal and community goals as a means of improving the world. Michael has now climbed six of the seven peaks, and will attempt to climb Mount Everest from March through May 2002. He has also mobilized thousands of teachers and youth to set and achieve their personal and community goals.

"WE ARE RESPONSIBLE"

Materials Needed:

Blackboard or overhead
Blank sheets of paper
Pens or pencils

Facilitating the Lesson:

Generate a conversation about the importance of goal-setting and service and what the concepts mean to them. Encourage youth to consider the personal goals they have and acts of service they perform daily. Extend their view and actions beyond their immediate environment and establish the foundation for planning and implementing service-learning projects for Reach Your Peak on National Youth Service Day and year-round.

Directions:

Instruct young people to fold a piece of paper into four sections labeled "Myself, Family, School, and Friends"
Explain that they will have four minutes to record their responsibilities to members of each category.
After four minutes, ask for several volunteers to share their responsibilities with the group.
Discuss the importance and excitement of making a noted contribution to society. The following questions can be used as a starting point:
- Do we have a responsibility to our community?
- If we add a fifth column to our list labeled "Community", what responsibilities would we write underneath it?
Discuss the main goals of Reach Your Peak and National Youth Service Day and how participation can help youth and others improve their communities.
- The goal of Reach Your Peak is to:
  - Help youth set and achieve, personal and community goals. It also aims to educate society about how the youth of our nation and of the world are reaching their own peaks and potential, by advancing the development of their communities through goal-setting, volunteering, fund-raising, and online educational experiences.
    
    The Reach Your Peak website provides youth and teachers, tools and a venue to help them share lessons, activities, stories, information, and resources on how youth can Reach Their Peaks. Our Goal is to bring the Reach Your Peak D.R.E.A.M. curriculum and long-term events to classrooms across the country, and to every community nationwide. Reach Your Peak aims to inspire youth to believe in themselves and their dreams, and turn them into action.
- The goals of National Youth Service Day are:
  - to HIGHLIGHT the ways in which young people serve their communities 365 days a year;
  - to RECRUIT the next generation of volunteers; and
  - to PROMOTE the benefits of youth service to the American public.

Reflection

This activity asks young people to consider their responsibilities and how they might set personal and community goals accordingly. Select several of the following suggested reflection activities to accommodate multiple learning styles.

WRITING

Respond to the following questions in a journal:
- What are my personal and community goals?
- What happens when you don’t follow through with your responsibilities?
- What is your most challenging responsibility?
- What responsibilities do you enjoy the most?
- Who is responsible for community change?
Go to www.ReachYourPeak.org and read about Michael Davis and his climb up Mt. Everest. Read about other persons who have set personal and community goals and learn how they met these goals. Write a short essay about what you learned.
Write a brief biography of somebody who has a great responsibility in your community and has set or reached an important goal.

READING

Read an article about somebody with important responsibilities in your community that has met one of their goals.
Read an article or story about an issue you consider to be everybody’s responsibility.

TELLING

Turn to a partner and talk about your most challenging goal.
Share information about National Youth Service Day with somebody in your family.

DOING

Create a picture illustrating your favorite responsibility and your goals.
Role-play different scenarios about responsibility and goal-setting.