When students return to Idaho high schools this fall, they’re likely to find a growing array of service-learning classes available to them. The courses mix volunteering with academics, and to successful ends.

Tina Naillon, Learn and Serve coordinator for the State Department of Education, said that while high school students may have participated in volunteer service alongside classmates, service-learning courses up the ante. What they learn in the classroom is augmented by a service project that requires them to apply those lessons in real world situations.

For example, at Middleton High School — one of several high schools in the state recognized for its high quality service-learning projects — students coordinate a community holiday food drive. Art students design and screen print reusable grocery bags. Culinary arts and health students assemble cookbooks with nutrition information that are distributed to Middleton area families. Speech students present ideas to city leaders.

“A lot of people think if a class goes out and does a service project it equates to service-learning, but that’s really just service,” Naillon said. “It needs to have that academic component to make it service-learning.”

Phil Kelly, a professor in the College of Education at Boise State University and a member of the Boise School Board, said there are numerous benefits to combining service and learning. Students get to see what they’re learning in the classroom tied to the community around them, bringing concepts to life and hopefully making the learning process resonate. Community members and agencies receive valuable service.

“It’s also good just to have kids out in the community, to have some ownership in whatever they’re working on,” Kelly said. “You get more involved citizens with kids who participate in service-learning.”

Students also are exposed to a variety of volunteer opportunities that they likely would not otherwise pursue, and the initial trepidation they might feel is overcome through the assignment.

Students can expect to see even more service-learning when they reach college. Boise State has the state’s largest service-learning program, offering about 100 different courses each year. During the 2009-10 academic year, 2,327 students devoted 56,785 hours to serving partner non-profit organizations in the Treasure Valley through the university’s Service-Learning Program. The students’ work was valued at $912,787 in economic benefit to the community.

“I expect service-learning to grow every year as students, teachers and citizens see its value,” Kelly said.

Boise State is a university of imagination and innovation. From its creative football play calling as two-time Fiesta Bowl champions to its recognition in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” for its striking improvements and changes, Boise State is on the rise. Learn more at www.boisestate.edu.