Service to Others
In the context of Christian service, helping students learn how to love others is no less important than helping them to develop gifts that will contribute to their callings and careers.
Can Buttercrunch Lettuce unite a community?
If serving others by constructing bucket gardens, leading plant workshops, and helping residents in underprivileged communities to supplement their meals with homegrown produce can bring people together—then yes, even Buttercrunch Lettuce can connect people across any of the barriers that could otherwise divide them. It may only be roughage, but it turns out that lettuce can be a pretty hard working herb.
Knowledge without love is nothing.
Some of the most profound scientific discoveries are realized when researchers simply follow their curiosity. Promoting a life-long love of inquiry investigation is both laudable and useful, but helping students apply what they learn to solve problems that affect themselves and others enables them to access new avenues for service and professional opportunity. Development of empathy is part of the social and emotional maturity that perseverance in project-based learning can facilitate. By relating to the needs of others, students gain experience that will enable them to sustain long-term friendships, recognize opportunities to serve through problem-solving, and help them apply the knowledge that they are learning.
Character traits like determination and grit do not have to be the fruits of frustrating experiences for students. The "I WILL" approach used in RISE programming allows students to work in their areas of affinity, even as they are coaxed to think and perform in ways that they have never done before. Experiences that challenge and stretch their abilities nurture their confidence to step out beyond their comfort zone. Balancing the social-emotional needs of students in this way makes school more fun.