Week One

Service-learning is a way of learning which occurs through action and reflection. As students serve, they can achieve real objectives for their community and a deeper understanding and skills for themselves. In the case of this class serving in an elementary school like the one, we are hoping to teach in gives us a unique perspective on educating and help us determine if this truly is the career we want to pursue.

I’ve chosen to do my service learning at Orchard Elementary here in Orem. Orchard is stock full of student programs like ballroom dancing, science programs, and both Spanish and mandarin dual immersion classroom. The students I will be working with are part of the Spanish immersion program, but I will be working with them only in their English classroom. The needs of the students are the school’s main priority and although Utah does not require teachers to be fully certified Orchard element’s teachers are all certified ensuring the best education possible. The school is what I would call averaged sized for an elementary school. The student to teacher ratio is 24 to 1 which is consistent with the 23 to 1 state average. The neighborhood surrounding Orchard has a lot of different dynamics the homes very between what I would call average and large, and just down the block from the school is a large business complex. The students and their families come from all social classes but more along the lines of middle to upper-middle-class families.