Safe Homes

Grade Level: 9-12

Academic Areas: Health, Physical Education, FCS

Duration of service: Semester Long

Character Virtues: Giving, Caring

Service Areas: Human Services, Public Safety

Service Learning Project:

Students will work with the local RSVP and Office for the Aging. As an initial planning activity, students, teachers, and parents will team up with seniors to identify seniors in the community that do not have smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in their homes. Safe Homes Teams will then solicit and encourage support from local and national hardware/lumber stores (Lowes, Home Depot, True Value) to donate smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. Initial assessment and identification of seniors in need can occur during and after school. Saturdays during the semester will be scheduled for installation visits. Seniors needing installation will be scheduled for service calls. Safe Homes Teams, consisting of at least one RSVP member and several students and parents will perform service calls to install the detectors. Academic connection is through Health, Physical Education , and Family and Consumer Sciences standard # 2.

Learning Goal: . Students will learn about incidences of home fires and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Standard: H, PE & FCS # 2

Learning Goal: Students will acquire the knowledge and ability necessary to create and maintain a safe environment.

Standard: H, PE & FCS # 2

Community need: Fire and carbon monoxide safety in the homes or seniors.

Possible Community Partners: RSVP, Office of Aging, Fire Departments, and hardware stores.

Objective: Students will solicit local hardware stores to donate smoke/CO2 detectors.

Objective: Students will install smoke/CO2 detectors in senior’s homes.

Character

Virtue: Giving

Objective: Students will recognize limitations of the elderly and their need for assistance with small chores.

Virtue: Caring

Objective: Students will understand the vulnerability of the elderly and develop a willingness to reach out to them.

1. Students will work with RSVP and Office for the Aging to develop lists of those in need of smoke/CO2 detectors. Once compiled they will work with their RSVP teammates to develop schedules for installation.
2. Contacts at local fire departments will be established and Safe Home Teams will get basic training in smoke/CO2 safety issues from local fire representatives. Pamphlets, and educational materials will be solicited from and donated by local fire departments.

Key Service Activities  

1. Students will provide seniors with information and discuss basic fire safety, CO2 issues, and detector installation and maintenance.
2. Safe Homes Teams will install detectors for seniors.

1. (oral – giving and caring) Students will read local papers and clip articles about fire calls in the community. As a classroom activity, they will discuss fire safety and the possible and/or actual causes for fires they report on. They will discuss how fire may be a greater threat to seniors and why and how that threat could be reduced. They will then discuss how caring and giving would effect threat levels to seniors.
2. (written – caring) Students will keep journals on their planning activities, their involvement in Safe Home Teams, their service, and their growing feelings of compassion toward the elderly.
3. (performance – giving) Students will role play detector installation and demonstrate the caring behavior they will show towards seniors.