Online sources for service learning and stewardship opportunities in your area

Want to engage your students in a community service project? There are many opportunities for students to volunteer in their communities. Tools and training are often provided and no experience is necessary to participate in these programs. Check out some of the amazing opportunities below.

VolunteerMatch strengthens communities by making it easier for good people and good causes to connect. The organization offers a variety of online services to support a community of nonprofit, volunteer, and business leaders committed to civic engagement.

The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse is America’s most comprehensive service-learning resource. The Clearinghouse supports the service-learning community in higher education, kindergarten through grade 12, community-based organizations, tribal programs, and all others interested in strengthening schools and communities using service-learning.

DoSomething.org is one of the largest organizations in the U.S. that helps young people rock causes they care about.

GoToServiceLearning presents examples of best practice service-learning experiences meeting state mandated academic standards - each uploaded onto the site according to an easy-to-use searchable template.

KIDS (Kids Involved Doing Service-Learning) Consortium is a nonprofit organization that strengthens service-learning collaborations by preparing and connecting students, educators, and community partners.

The USA National Phenology Network brings together citizen scientists, government agencies, nonprofit groups, educators, and students of all ages to monitor the impacts of climate change on plants and animals in the United States.

Recommended Reading

The Kid's Guide to Service Projects, by Barbara A. Lewis Free Spirit
This new edition of Free Spirit’s best-selling youth service guide includes a refreshed “Ten Steps to Successful Service Projects” plus hundreds of up-to-date ideas for projects—from simple to large-scale. At a time when President Barack Obama has called for increased participation in community service, this revitalized book is sure to find a whole new audience of eager young change-makers.

Kids Taking Action: Community Service Learning Projects, K-8, by Pamela Roberts
Kids Taking Action highlights 18 community service learning projects from diverse K-8 classrooms across the country. Written in a lively, engaging style, these profiles of hands-on, kid-friendly projects offer teachers great ideas to use or adapt with their own students. In addition, Kids Taking Action presents a helpful resource list and practical tips on how to find and implement community service learning projects.

The Complete Guide to Service Learning: Proven, Practical Ways to Engage Students in Civic Responsibility, Academic Curriculum, & Social Action, by Cathryn Berger Kaye
The Complete Guide to Service Learning is the go-to resource in the fast-growing field of service learning. It is an award-winning treasury of activities, ideas, quotes, reflections, and resources and provides hundreds of annotated book recommendations, author interviews, and expert essays—all presented within a curricular context and organized by theme. This new edition maintains the easy-to-use format of the original and is enhanced to reflect the most up-to-date service learning pedagogy.

Extend your learning through public participation in scientific research

Make a difference in the scientific community! Engage in the scientific process by collaborating with professional scientists and sharing authentic data to address real-world questions.

Share Your Project!

With support from the National Park Foundation and its Parks Climate Challenge, NatureBridge helps teachers educate students about climate change using national parks as classrooms. Get inspired by teachers who are doing service learning projects with their students, receive guidance on getting the process started, learn how to implement a project in your school or classroom, and share your project with other teachers.