School District of Philadelphia
School: West Philadelphia High School
Center Director: Jason Klugman
Email: jk215@yahoo.com
Phone: 215.471.2902
Address: 4700 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19139
Grant: TECHCOM Student Service Learning Center

Description/Accomplishments:
*To promote service-learning as an academic endeavor for teachers and to develop student trainers to support fellow students and teachers in their efforts to positively impact school and community climate through service-learning methodology.

*Strong emphasis will be placed on improving the school climate and environment.

*Staff development will be provided to teachers and all teachers within the South West Academic Area will have access to the Youth Driven Service-Learning Center as a service-learning resource.

*Student leadership development. This group will be student driven and student run. Students will focus on the elements of service, sharing their own experiences and mentoring other students on ways to involve themselves in their community. These goals are aligned with that of the Student Success Center where students will be involved in peer to peer mediation, school to work career exploration, leadership skills development and academic tutoring.

*Students will be trained as evaluators of service-learning projects as well as grant writers, further enabling them to enhance their academic skills. Finally, significant and meaningful community change is expected as a result of this project, particularly in the area of school climate and the urban environment.

ACTIVITIES:
*Short-term: Improve the 2nd and 3rd floor girl’s bathrooms by installing new fixtures, painting, creating mosaics and creating targeted messages to remind students of the importance of respecting climate and environment.

*Long-term: Revamp the current weight room into a usable fitness center that is open to students, teachers and community members.