When Orono High School first implemented its service-learning requirement in 1994, all of the school’s ninth grade students signed a petition objecting to the new program. They believed that the initiative, which required all students to undergo a three year service-learning curriculum before they could graduate, amounted to forced volunteerism. They were right, of course, but Orono Principal Tom Perry did not care – he politely collected the petition and tucked it away in his drawer.

Three years later, when the high school was faced with budget restrictions and it looked as if the program could be cut, those same students – who by then were seniors and had fulfilled their service requirement – flooded the school board meeting with one simple message: you cannot get rid of this program.

“The change that took place in that first group of students over those three years is what PROJECTS had predicted would occur when young people find meaning in service” said Perry Gates, President of PROJECTS, Inc.

Orono High School’s service-learning program was created in 1994 after PROJECTS, Inc. raised money to create a premier service-learning program in Maine. Once funding was secured, PROJECTS sent out a request for proposal to educators across the state, and eventually selected Orono High School for the program. PROJECTS provided Orono with a grant of $40,000 over four years, and sent staff to train Orono’s guidance team in service-learning. The idea was to integrate service-learning into the school’s basic education. With consultation from PROJECTS, Orono created a mandatory three year curriculum that all Orono students begin when they enter high school. The program PROJECTS created is the same program running at Orono today.

The curriculum is separated into three stages. During their first year, Orono ninth graders are introduced to the idea of community service through classes and school-led service projects. As tenth graders, they attend seminars to learn about services needed in the community. Students then create their own 30 hour service project to be completed by the end of eleventh grade. The program culminates in a research paper and exhibition where students present their project to a panel of community members and teachers.

“It was tough at first,” admitted Connie Carter, who ran the program from its conception in 1994 until 2002, “but after a while most students agreed that the program actually gave school a purpose.” “I remember a lot of long hours and significant resistance at first,” Gates said.

Orono High School immediately noticed some clear benefits of the program: that it helped meet community needs and inspired in students a sense of civic responsibility. However, the community also found that service-learning helped participants bridge the generation gap. “The program helps students see adults in a different light,” Carter said. She remembers a group of particularly difficult teenage boys whom she paired with a 70 year old mentor. At first the teens’ attendance and commitment to their project was poor, but once they learned that their older mentor showed up each day whether they were there or not, they changed their behavior. “They came away with an enormous amount of respect for that guy,” Carter said. “That’s a connection that never would have been made without this program.”

Since those first years, Orono High School’s service-learning curriculum has evolved into an award-winning program that currently serves 80 to 90 students per year. Orono students have created and participated in a wide variety of service projects – including home maintenance jobs, community construction, recycling programs and even teaching horseback riding to students with disabilities. The program is run by one paid coordinator, and aided by a volunteer core of 50-60 community mentors and parents.

Close to 1,000 students had successfully fulfilled Orono High School’s service-learning requirement by 2008 – and the program is still running today. Now included in the school’s annual budget, and independently run by Orono High School staff and community members, the program never would have gotten off the ground without the initial seed money and training from PROJECTS, Inc. “This program is a perfect example of how PROJECTS operates as a non-profit,” Gates said . “We identify the problem, create a solution strategy and fund a portion of the action plan. Once things are running smoothly, we then turn the initiative over to local leadership, who by then have the tools to sustain it.”