The mutual

benefits of
community
partnerships
Luke VanRuyven • 4/21/2023
 *SWBAT identify meaningful
opportunities to serve their

The mutual benefits community.

of community
*SWBAT identify mutual benefits of
community service.

partnerships CA CCSS Social Science: 8.12.1,

8.12.5

CSTP: 2.1, 2.5

How can helping others, end up
benefiting us as well? ISTE: 5.3

NBPTS: Domain 6a
 How can SSJ students
serve in, and be served by,
their local community?
Why should we teach students to help others?
● Prepares students to engage meaningfully with society.
● As community stewards, fostering relationships is an important role with
soft skills students can and should be exercising with people of various ages.
● Avoid “transactional” relationships and embrace “transformational”
relationships. Helps bridge the gap between theory and learning.
● Student involvement has positive impacts on client outcomes.
● Unique enrichment. Offers broadened perspective for future civic actors.
● Opportunities for Social Justice.
● Growing our Community. People want to be part of the fun!
What are the benefits of student-community service?
For students:
● Unique learning experiences outside of
the classroom
● Chance to apply theory
● An opportunity for responsibility
● Low-stakes practice of soft skills
● An opportunity for students to
represent their school to the world
● Recognize their positive impact on
others
● Have fun
For the community:
● Adds variable activities for clients
● Opportunities for clients to interact
with new and different people
● Serves a vacant need
● Demonstrate our care for others
● Establishes a reputation for community
service
● Raises the profile for the School and
Parish within the community
How can we serve others?

Think big, act small!

Teacher Roles:

● Explore your passions and the networks you are already a part of to think of
ways to invite our students to develop partnerships that will broaden their
horizons.
Our First Opportunity:
Alzheimer’s Family Services
Center of Huntington Beach
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many
interactive community activities were
discontinued for safety concerns. In February of
2023, a parish liaison connected me with Aimee
Ruiz, administrator for the Alzheimer’s Family
Services Center in Huntington Beach.
Despite the continued restrictions in
medical facilities, Aimee was looking to rekindle
the previous service relationship with our
school; to work with her clients to remediate
some garden beds on her site.
My Horticulture elective class recognized
this as an opportunity to service a vulnerable
population and apply their newly acquired skills.
Recognizing who we are,
and what we can offer:
We are:
● Young
● Energetic/Enthusiastic
● Knowledgeable
● Catholic

We can:
● Lift/Bend/Stoop
● Plant seeds and seedlings
● Be kind
● Help
● Have fun
Recognizing we can’t do
it alone:
In order to prepare the
students to interact appropriately
with this vulnerable population, they
require priming in advance.

Aimee Ruiz, administrator at

the Alzheimer’s Family Services
Center, joined us on March 31, 2023 to
instruct our students on what to
expect from the clients they will work
with.
Understanding the
limitations:
Due to the fact that this site is
governed as a medical facility in
California, volunteers are required to
be fully vaccinated (full dose +
booster) to be on site.

This requirement limited the

number of available participants to
only those who could meet that bar.

Additionally, the space is also

rather small; approximately 12’x15’. So
the space will only fit so many people
at a time.
Making a commitment
and setting a plan
Despite the challenges, this
project, and this opportunity to serve
our local community, was too good to
pass up.

Committing to a small scope

project, and funding it ourselves,
ensured we could establish a working
relationship with this partner,
opening the door to more future
opportunities.

Additional garden beds on site

can be reinvigorated in future events.
Following through and
surrendering to the
experience
Students walked over to the site
in the morning during their regularly
scheduled weekly elective program.
They quickly embraced filling the
boxes with soil and meeting the
clients.

Students found themselves in

the company of elderly patients
experiencing mild dementia
symptoms, enjoying the chance to
interact socially and plant seeds and
seedlings.
Taking stock of what we have learned: Feedback
Walking back, students were chatty about what they had just experienced. Some
highlights:

● One student remarked that their favorite client said that the only thing they
liked about strawberries was throwing them.
● All agreed that they had a very enjoyable time getting dirty and laughing with
the elderly clientele.
● Students admitted they didn’t know how to introduce themselves and felt a
little awkward at first, but found comfort quickly with the docent’s help.
● Two participants agreed that helping others felt good.
● All were grateful that they had an opportunity to be off campus
Who else can we
help?
Turn to a neighbor and discuss what you like to do in your community.
Use this Google Form to suggest how we
might apply this model to serve our
community partners and ourselves.