While learning is the first priority in school, it often means sitting in dim classrooms for days on end. A new Service Learning course is being offered next year that will bring education out of dim classrooms and into the community.

Social studies teacher Andy Nussbaum and directed studies teacher Chris Hunt are introducing the class to make learning a more personal experience and bring the community and school closer together.

“I think it will help people understand that education, learning and the community don’t have to be separate,” Nussbaum said.

Students selected to be in the pilot of the course were called out of class to talk to Hunt and Nussbaum in order to plan for the following year and talk about future goals.

“We wanted to introduce it to students that would grow and be affected by it,” Nussbaum said.

Sophomore Jackie McCullough believes the class will be a fun way to get involved in the community and become a better person.

“I’m looking forward to doing some tutoring with kids,” McCullough said. “We might be able to relate to them better than teachers do, because it wasn’t too long ago that we were their age.”

The class is different than anything ever presented because it is based on the individual goals of the students. Instead of staying in the classroom all hour, students will have the opportunity to leave school and face the issues that our community is dealing with.

“It’s not going to be based on a textbook,” McCullough said. “Basically we’re going to be building the curriculum.”

Although helping the community is an important aspect of the class, enhancing the lives of the students is a major goal of the Service Learning course.

“We want the classroom to be society in action,” Nussbaum said. “It will be more than just a grade.”