Stephanie Hill

Hill’s winning program, “Community Caretakers,” engages students in the service-learning process to identify needs in the community. Service-learning is an instructional method that engages young people in service to their communities as a means of enriching their academic learning, promoting personal growth and helping students develop the skills needed to be productive citizens. “Community Caretakers” requires students to apply the skills they have learned by designing and implementing service-learning projects to meet a need they have identified in the community. Students will be responsible for all of the decisions involved in the identification, design and implementation of their projects. Students will do all of the leg work for the project such as making phone calls, organizing group meetings and creating and implementing a strategic action plan.  Hill, who lives in Raytown, hopes students will receive long-term benefits from participating in the project by strengthening their leadership skills and raising their awareness about and their desire to address the issues affecting their neighborhoods and communities.