Building Empathy Through Action: How Service Learning Grows with Our Students

Individual teachers have integrated service learning and community service into their curriculum for decades. These teachers had a heart for it; they knew their curriculum and knew the relevance of making learning real. For example, a Middle School science teacher used the Cherry Creek Reservoir as an outdoor classroom. Students investigated water quality and studied the plants and animals along the creek. They were then challenged to design a sensory trail for visitors with visual impairments, guiding them through the habitat while teaching them what they had learned and helping them experience the environment through touch, sound, smell, and description. 

In the 1990s, Mr. Tony Gerlicz, head of Upper School, had a vision to formalize our service-learning program. As Ms. Lynn Hawthorne, our former service learning coordinator, remembers, “he talked us into the service learning program as if it were our idea, making us feel altruistic.” Ms. Hawthorne shaped the early beginnings of this formalized program, driven by questions such as “Can we open hearts and minds simultaneously?” and “What is altruism, and how does that connect to our school mission and guiding principles?”

What emerged from Ms. Hawthorne’s and Mr. Gerlicz’s vision was a comprehensive, developmentally appropriate program that grows with students from Preschool through Grade 8. Today, each grade level is carefully designed around the National Youth Leadership Council standards, ensuring meaningful service, strong curriculum connections, ongoing reflection, and authentic partnerships with community organizations.

Our service learning journey begins with the fundamental concepts of thriving and belonging. In Preschool and Pre-K, students begin their service learning journey by exploring what it means to create a welcoming community. Through everyday classroom routines and adult modeling, they learn how to treat classmates and visitors with empathy and respect. This early work lays the foundation for service learning experiences in later years.

That foundation grows in Kindergarten, as students begin to take responsibility for looking after shared spaces. Through composting, recycling, planting, and the “Buddy and a Bucket” program, Kindergarteners practice campus stewardship and learn how small actions contribute to a caring community.

First- and second-graders extend this care by helping wildlife thrive on our campus. First graders immerse themselves in a comprehensive bird conservation unit that blends science, literacy, and Tinker Time. They research birds, raise chicks, visit the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, and take action to make the Graland campus more bird-friendly—learning how birds support healthy ecosystems. Second graders tend the school’s pollinator garden throughout the year, applying cross-curricular learning to care for bees, butterflies, and birds, and discovering how protecting pollinators sustains entire ecosystems.

As students mature, their understanding of thriving and belonging expands beyond our campus. Third graders, in their studies of Colorado, learn who came to our state and why. Through service learning, they ask a modern extension of that question: “Who is coming to Colorado today, and how can we welcome them?” Students explore the experiences of immigrants and refugees and host an event where they interview immigrant members of the larger Graland community, practicing empathetic listening and deepening their understanding of what it means to belong.

Fourth graders examine how parks strengthen communities through an interdisciplinary unit spanning science and social studies. Their learning includes hands-on conservation work, such as raising and releasing trout as part of their study of coldwater ecosystems and public lands.

Our Middle Schoolers turn their attention to community members who may not be thriving. Fifth graders explore sustainable farming practices through hydroponic grow towers in their classrooms, learning how innovative agriculture can address food systems and food insecurity. Through field trips and partnerships, students see these practices in action beyond campus. They harvest food from their own gardens and donate it to a local food bank, bridging environmental stewardship with community support.

Sixth graders investigate poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity across multiple disciplines. In math, they explore budgeting questions such as: “How much does someone need to earn to live in Denver?” In English, they read “A Single Shard,” a text that explores themes of perseverance, dignity, and belonging. In art, students create ceramic bowls, which become a central element of the culminating “Empty Bowls” event. Through service activities such as assembling toiletry kits, organizing food drives, and volunteering with local organizations, students apply what they are learning in meaningful ways—culminating in the Empty Bowls event, where they serve a meal and share their bowls as symbols of hunger awareness and community responsibility.

Seventh graders focus on aging community members, honoring elders as “story keepers” through interdisciplinary study. Students design and build memory boxes, partner with local organizations to assist seniors, and culminate their work in a celebration that connects storytelling, service, and relationship-building.

Finally, eighth graders step into their roles as global citizens through Capstone projects connected to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. After months of research and preparation, they put their ideas into action by volunteering with local organizations. Eighth graders also participate in class-wide service experiences across Denver, building a deeper understanding of how local efforts connect to global challenges. The year concludes with final presentations where students share their learning, reflections, and the impact of their work.

We understand that sustainability does not mean doing the same thing year after year. We balance stewarding the legacy of effective programs with making room for new ideas that tap into educators’ and students’ interests and passions. Through summer grants, teachers explore ways to elevate service learning, expand partnerships with local organizations, and deepen our focus on global citizenship.

At Graland, service learning bridges academic learning with authentic community engagement. It develops empathy, builds community connections, and helps students understand their power to create positive change. This approach strengthens a sense of belonging in profound ways. Students see themselves as valued members of the community who can contribute meaningfully to solving real-world problems.

Through service learning, we are not just teaching students about empathy and citizenship—we are giving them opportunities to practice these values in authentic, meaningful ways. We are showing them that they belong not only to the Graland community, but to the larger human community, and that they have both the responsibility and the power to make it better.

As I watch our students grow from preschoolers learning how to be part of a welcoming community to eighth graders engaging with global challenges, I am reminded that service and learning are deeply connected. Like chips and salsa, they work best together—supporting growth, understanding, and connection over time.