This issue of Network explores some useful applications of technology to service learning. In the classroom, technology, computers, and the Internet can stimulate interactivity and cooperative learning while they forge links between curriculum and community.

In this issue, Bonnie Bracey, teacher and member of the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council, describes an array of projects that can be adapted to service learning. Mary C. Argandoña, middle-school teacher and technology coordinator, explains how to set up a school web site. The Profiles section describe several service-learning projects where technology is featured prominently. Review Corner explores a procedural guide and two software programs for setting up web pages. New guidelines for the 1998-99 Robinson Mini-Grants also appear in this issue along with notices of conferences and resources of interest to educators and others working with youth.

The Information Superhighway is more than the Internet. It is a series of components, including the collection of...high-speed, interactive...networks that exist today and will emerge tomorrow. It is the satellite, terrestrial, and wireless technologies....It is the information and content that flow over the infrastructure....It is the computers, televisions, telephones, radios, and other products....It is the people who will provide, manage, and generate new information....And it is the individual Americans who will use and benefit from the Information Superhighway. The Information Superhighway...encompasses all these components and captures the vision of a nationwide, invisible, seamless, dynamic web of transmission mechanisms, information, appliances, content, and people.

The Information Superhighway is the new vehicle for social and economic activity. Communications technology and the information it carries will affect and improve the lives of individuals of all ages, as well as the educational system, business environment, and the very fabric of community life. In fact, most people are using some aspect of the Superhighway whether they know it or not. Regardless of how remarkable the current uses may be, they are only the tip of the iceberg.

Modern communications technology offers educators powerful opportunities today. It brings the world to the classroom and community. No matter what their socioeconomic or ethnic background, and no matter where they live, the learning field for all students can be leveled. Through the Internet, students are introduced to people, places, and ideas they might not otherwise be exposed to.

It enables students to learn by doing. Research has now confirmed what many instinctively knew—that children who are actively engaged in learning, learn more. The effects are particularly noticeable among students who were not high achievers under more traditional methods. Networked projects, where students work with others and conduct their own research and analysis, can transform students into committed and exhilarated learners.

Using the Information Superhighway, students can create, participate in, and expand on a variety of projects, which will further their learning and involvement. The projects are as diverse as measuring the effects of acid rain, corresponding in the field with researchers from Earthwatch, working with various NASA projects and programs, or studying soil on an international basis with the Globe Project. With these kinds of projects, we can see how technology, computers, and the Internet can help teachers and students do service projects.

Here are some examples of projects and Internet resources that can easily be adapted for service learning:

The National Geographic Kids Network (www.nationalgeo.com) focuses on specialized topics, including acid rain, soil, and water. This resource provides learning kits to help students understand and use solar energy, to measure the nearest mud puddle for acid content of rainfall, and to build rain collectors. Students can then present their findings to the community and connect with service organizations that deal with the problem of acid rain.

In my school, one class completed a project, but students complained that, although they had learned a great deal, they had not affected the community. More education was necessary.

One project often leads to another. When we started monitoring the stream near our school for acidity, students discovered baby ducklings with their legs caught in gunk and string. They made it a project to help clean the stream. Over the next several years, they linked with local, state, and national environmental groups—the

4-H, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Audubon Society, Project Wild, and the Environmental Protection Agency. Students created a design for a duck postage stamp as an expression of their concern for clean streams. Students created garbage pizzas, circular displays of waste that demonstrate the proportions of common trash components. The children also used the Internet to access Wisconsin Fast Plants (fastplants.cals.wisc.edu) and used the Wisconsin Bottle Biology notes from the same web site to create science projects from recycled plastics.

Earthwatch (www.earthwatch.org) features a program that involves teachers and students with a wide array of environmental field study projects. These projects include a study of turtles in Saint Croix, the use of solar ovens in Kenya, and archaeology expeditions in Majorca, Spain. These study projects help give teachers and students a taste of real-life scientific field work.

When one class was studying solar energy, the students used the Internet to talk to field volunteers on an Earthwatch solar energy project. An Earthwatch volunteer explained how solar ovens were being used in Kenya, where fuel is scarce. The volunteer told students about a woman who made a solar oven that was too large to carry home on her bicycle. The students took on the problem and created several plans to help the woman get the oven to her home. They also built a similar oven and made solar bread as a research project.

Students then began tracking the use of solar energy in their own community. They visited a solar-powered dairy and designed and built their own solar cars and balloons from kits available from the National Science Teachers Association (www.nsta.org). Students were also invited to observe the test run of a solar car that the University of Maryland engineering department was building for a solar race across Australia.

Global SchoolNet (www.gsn.org/) offers a variety of interactive projects that can be adapted to service learning. ThinkQuest Projects (www.netv.com/tquest) involve children from around the world in multimedia and interactive activities. ThinkQuest participants also contribute to a student-generated Internet library of educational materials for others to use online.

In my school, students found a school and community project in Alaska that was described on the Global SchoolNet web site. Students reviewed the project description on the Internet and adapted it to our own community. We made contact with a local nursing home and got residents to tell the stories of their lives. At Christmas we presented the nursing home residents with renditions of their life stories using Hyperstudio and printed books.

The Smithsonianhorizon (nmsu.edu/garden/welcome) created a project around its "Seeds of Change" exhibit, which focused on the meeting of two worlds at the time of Columbus. Students who participated in the exhibit learned about the exchange of horses, corn, potatoes, sugar cane, disease, and other factors that influenced the convergence of European and American cultures. We were inspired by the Smithsonian and the Garden Clubs of America to create a Seeds of Change garden. The Smithsonian also sponsors National Partners, where scientists share their expertise with young people.

The Promised Land, sponsored by the Discovery Channel, can be found at school.discovery.com/learningcomm/ promisedland/index.html. When first initiated, this project focused on the migration of Southern blacks to Chicago during the first two-thirds of the 20th century. As students and other organizations—including I*Earn (www.iearn.org/)—became involved, the topic broadened to explore world-wide issues of migration and the promised land. A web site and several listservs developed from this project.

The National Urban League (www.nul.org/) is prominent among a number of organizations that are working to prepare young people to succeed and prosper in the Information Age. Under the leadership of its new president, Hugh Price, this venerable civil rights organization is launching a major effort to prepare America’s black children, both academically and socially, for the 21st century.

The Information Superhighway plays an important role in the league’s strategy. "We plan to work with parents to show them what their children must know and be able to do in order to succeed in the Technological Age," President Price says. "Then we’ll translate those skill standards into benchmarks so parents will know if their kids are on course." The league has received a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to determine benchmarks and develop methods for parents to use these standards to measure their children’s progress.

According to Price, the league intends to make its benchmarks available nationwide "to every interested parent." The league will distribute the benchmarks through its 114 affiliates, PTAs, religious institutions, and other outlets. "That’s in addition to other parent-education efforts," Price adds. "The goal is to help parents become sophisticated and insistent consumers as regards their children’s education."

As television and radio did in previous generations, the Internet is changing the world through its rich and timely resources. Many projects for students on the Information Superhighway may involve service organizations who fund, create, staff, share resources, share talent, or create possibilities for students. The Information Superhighway links students and service organizations in intriguing and meaningful ways. This is just the tip of an iceberg of resources and projects. I urge you to take advantage of the opportunities that the Information Superhighway presents. You, your students, your school, and your community will almost certainly benefit greatly.

Bonnie Bracey is a teacher’s teacher with many individual honors on the national stage as a member of the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council, the George Lucas Educational Foundation, Technology Task Force, NCATE, White House Technology Initiative. Bracey was a teacher on the CyberEd tour and is cofounder of the Online Internet Institute.

For more information, contact Bonnie Bracey, bbracey@aol.com.
 

By Mary C. Argandoña

Establishing a web site on the Internet makes a fine school-community link for a service-learning project. Many schools would love to build a web site, but aren’t sure how to get started.

The first question that usually comes up is: Who’s going to build and maintain a web site? Someone at your school—faculty or student—has probably built a home page as a hobby and would love to help build a school web site. Check around the campus to locate anyone hooked on cruising the Internet and building web pages. Create a club for teachers and students who will become the web masters of your school site. This keeps the burden from falling on the shoulders of any one person.

Where to Begin

After deciding who’s going to build the school web site, it’s time to consider the content of your site. What do you want to put on a school web site? Who is your intended audience? Probably your audience will be teachers, students, and parents. Some content areas that you might consider are:

A front page. Be sure to include. . .

• A picture of your school.

• Your mission statement.

• Your school’s address, phone number,
   and principal’s name.

• Web master name and e-mail address.

• A link to the next page.

NOTE: The front page can lead directly to a second page that should include a table of contents (TOC) or a site index. Some schools include a TOC or index on their the front page. Each designer is different!

A Site Index. Be sure to include. . .
 

• Administrators

• Principal & Assistant
   Principal(s)

• Administrator bios, e-mail
   addresses, and any thing
   else they think is
   interesting.

• Staff/Departments

• Have teachers design
  their own pages or
  compile teachers names
  in alphabetical order or
  by departments. Post
  anecdotes (subjects
  taught, hobbies, why they
  like teaching, e-mail
  address,etc.) Keep it
  simple!

NOTE: Make sure that all teachers have given you permission to post information about them on the Internet. No personal stuff!

• Students

• Post student work.

• Have students design
  their own home pages.

NOTE: Students must have parental permission. Make sure that students do not divulge too much info: no home address, phone numbers, etc. School districts that have technology divisions probably already have guidelines and permissions slips for student home pages. Check with your district offices.

• Calendars

• Post a monthly calendar
  for teachers and students
  to remind them of
  upcoming events.

• Sports

• Post sports events
  involving the school.

• Resources

• List of sites that offer
  help or services to
  teachers—
  include some cool sites or
  kid links, too.

• Parent links

• Clubs

• Check with campus
  organizations; they
  may want to post
  something or create a
  page.

• Special Programs

• These might include any
   outside agencies
   that have adopted your
   school.

• Also, include links to
  useful outside
  agencies or community
  services.

• Homework

• Offer links to homework
  help.

• Provide e-mail address
  of  teachers who
  are willing to respond to
  student questions.

• Set up times when
  students and teachers
  can go online to exchange
  information.

NOTE: Remember, you can add as much as you want depending on how ambitious your group is. It’s very time-consuming, but fun!

NOTE: To any school setting up their first web site:

• Look at what other
  schools have done.

• Check out Web66 at
  web66.umn.edu/
  schools.html.
  Thousands of school web
  sites all over the world
  are registered at this
  site—a great place to
  see how other schools
  have designed their web
  sites. While you  are
  there,  register your
  school!

Design and layout of a web site takes up 70 percent of your time. I always draft my design ideas for each page on paper before I begin programming on the computer. This saves time and gives me a rough idea of how my design will look. Remember, keep your designs simple and focused on the content that you have chosen.

Tools

Now you are ready to begin constructing your school web site. You can either use a web authoring tool or use the HTML code itself. There are some great products out on the market today that allow for easy "drag ‘n drop." (See REVIEWS, page 8.) Personally, I like the challenge of HTML Code. It’s like putting together a puzzle. You can find hundreds of sites that will teach you everything you want to know about HTML. One of my favorite sites is HTML Goodies (www.htmlgoodies.com). Fantastic site! HTML is not a hard language to learn. It’s just very precise.

Graphics

Graphics add a lot of appeal to your site. Make sure that you keep the file size down. Try to keep your images to around 30k per image and limit the number of graphics per page. Fewer graphics help the user download each page quickly. If images take too long to load, many viewers will simply move on to another page or web site. You can create your own images and then convert them with a software program. I like using either Adobe PhotoShop or Fractal Painter 5. Both of these programs will convert your images into files called gifs or jpegs.

A simple rule of thumb for choosing either gif or jpeg is to remember that gifs support line art and images that have mostly solid colors. Jpegs are considered best for photographs. Jpegs compress into smaller files which make downloading faster.

Hundreds of web sites on the Internet have royalty-free images. One of my favorite sites is Clipart www.clipart.com. This site also offers listings for hundreds of other art sites. You’ll find numerous backgrounds, buttons, bars, animated gifs and so on.

Uploading

Once you’ve finished compiling your material, be sure to check for spelling and any other errors. When you’ve checked and proof-read, you’re ready to upload your page onto the Internet.

Many school districts have a web site and a web master. Contact the web master and let him or her know that your school has created a web site. The web master will guide you through the steps required to upload your site. If your district doesn’t have a web site or web master, you can use an ISP (Internet Service Provider) or other sites on the web that will let you load your site for free. One of my favorite sites for this is GEOCITIES (www.geocities.com). The nice thing about Geocities is that you can also upload a free personal web page as well as your school site.

Geocities also has tons of cool sites that offer help with graphics and HTML tutorials.

Resources

There are hundreds of books flooding the market on how to build a web page. Ask around before you run out and purchase any of these books. Most of the time you’ll find all the information that you need right on the Internet itself. Later, when you become more confident about building web pages, consider adding sound, animation, video, java, etc. Here are some great references

HTML for DUMMIES by Ed Tittel & Steve James, Publisher: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.

HTML For The World Wide Web by Elizabeth Castro, Publisher: Peachpit Press

Designing Web Graphics by Lynda Weinman, Publisher: New Riders

Publishing Photoshop Web Techniques by J. Scott Hamlin, Publisher: New Riders Publishing

Mary C. Argandoña is a teacher and Technology Coordinator at Berendo Middle School, 1157 South Berendo St., Los Angeles, CA 90006 (213) 382-1343. Feel free to e-mail at margando@lausd.k12.ca.us if you have any questions.
 

GUILFORD, Vermont—The Guilford Gazette is published by middle school students at Guilford Central School (GCS). The Gazette features writing and reporting by students and community members from this small town in Southeastern Vermont. In addition to being published and distributed in print form, the Gazette is posted on a web site maintained by GCS.

The Gazette is an ongoing service-learning project where GCS teachers have identified standards-based learning outcomes and assessment procedures for students who participate in this school and community project. Guilford Central School is a Vermont Demonstration Site for Professional Development and Service Learning.

The Gazette published its first issue in 1995 after seventh- and eighth-grade students surveyed their town to determine community needs. Findings revealed that "communication was a great need in our community," according to a majority of Guilford citizens. Maeve Stack, 12, the Gazette’s assistant ad manager claims that "people think the Gazette is helpful. In my view, it keeps the town together as a community."

Publishing the Guilford Gazette begins with the collection of editorial material from students and community members. Production manager Priscilla Olle, 14, explains, "Kids go out and find stories about what’s going on in the community." A local organization like the public library might submit an article. Some town residents submit material via e-mail.

The Gazette regularly features local news stories, notices of upcoming events for a community calendar, and a profile of a long-term Guilford resident or a piece on community history. The paper also prints reviews and essays in an opinion section and discusses issues scheduled for the annual town meeting. Students submit poetry, reviews, short stories, and illustrations. "We have a strong commitment to recording, preserving, and publishing the culture and traditions of our community," claims the Gazette staff.

Next, the Gazette’s editorial staff divides the gathered material into categories. At this point, the production staff places the assembled stories in a "mock-up," or draft of the paper, that is used by the editors to determine story length, layout, and ad placement. "You get the whole staff and figure out what features you want. You have to have a certain amount of articles in at a certain time. Deadlines. They’re the worst," says Autumn Ringus, 14, the community news editor.

Student publishers of the Gazette use Claris Works 4.0 and Adobe Photoshop for numerical spread sheets, word processing, and layout. Production, printing, and distribution costs for the Gazette are covered by donations and an advertising department. An advertising manager and assistant maintain spreadsheets to keep detailed records on advertisers. They offer special deals to regular clients. Ad manager Savannah Cutting, 13, says, "This year, we said ‘If you want a good deal, advertise with us now.’" Advance payment guarantees ads in three issues of the Gazette. "They save $15 off the regular rate," states Cutting.

Assistant production manager Ben Krisher, 13, describes the paper’s distribution process: "When we get the Gazette back from the printers, we have a folding party, staple it, and bring it to the post office. They deliver it to everybody in town who has a mailbox."

Although interest was slow to develop, the town has taken the paper under its wing. Gazette staff members made a pitch for the paper at a recent town meeting. Community members responded with donations, volunteer support, and orders for advertisements. Commercial space in the Gazette features ads from auto repair shops, well drillers, the local television station, real estate agents, restaurants, dentists, and purveyors of goat cheese.

"The printer gives us a deal because we are a community organization that works at the school," says assistant ad manager Stack. Recently, the paper used ad revenues and donations to purchase a new ink-jet printer. "The paper is almost 100 percent self-supporting," says GCS teacher and project supervisor Joe Brooks. "The bottom line is, if they don’t get the income, the Gazette doesn’t happen."

An electronic edition of The Guilford Gazette is posted on GCS’s web site. In addition to the Gazette, the site includes descriptions of GCS programs and curriculum, and special focus areas, such as music, art, physical education, farms and agriculture. The web site also carries information on school staff, school organizations, and news about GCS’s partner school in St. Cloud, Florida.

Web managers are in charge of mounting issues of the Gazette on the GCS web site. "We use Page Mill 2.0, an Adobe authoring tool," says web manager Derek Innes. "First we take the written article, get a picture that goes with the article’s basic theme. Then we put it together."

Ian McLean, assistant web manager, helps others capture images for the Gazette with scanners and a digital camera. The images are saved in Adobe PhotoShop and then posted on the web site with PageMill. "That way we avoid having to use HTML codes," explains Innes. McLean tests web site links with a second browser. "Normally we use Netscape," he says. "I test the links with Microsoft Explorer, just to make sure they work."

For more information visit the Guilford Central School web site at www.state.us/schools/gcs, or contact Joe Brooks, RR 3 Box 256, Guilford Vermont, 05301, (802) 254-2271.
 
 

BURBANK, California—Students specializing in business at Burbank High School are teaching senior citizens basic computer skills and introducing them to the Internet. Senior Net, an inter-generational project for teenagers and senior citizens, helps both groups erase age stereotypes. "It helps young people realize we all get older and we all need to develop patience and understanding," said academy teacher Diana Olken.

Working with a local senior center, students first conducted a survey to determine what skills seniors most wanted to learn. Then, working with academy teachers, eleventh-grade students set about showing seniors how to surf the Internet and use Windows software for letter writing. Senior Net used funding from Learn and Serve America to buy computers, a special ergonomic chair, and a new printer.

In response to the success of Senior Net, a local adult education center has introduced a class for teaching computer skills to senior citizens.

For more information contact Diana Olken, Director, Academy of Finance, Burbank High School, Burbank, CA, (818) 558-4700 x 255.
 
 

GALT, California—With Project NET, students at Fairsite Elementary School integrate technology with math, science, and environmental education projects while they participate in community service.

In one NET project, students use classroom computers to research river and stream ecology and fish anatomy and physiology. A local environmental group, the California Fly Fishers, has developed a curriculum designed to teach students to raise Chinook salmon from eggs in a chilled classroom aquarium. Students also work with the California Department of Fish and Game to release the young salmon in the American River.

NET students study the interdependence of people, animals, streams, and rivers. They keep journals on salmon growth and development, investigate the causes of decline in the salmon population, and correspond via e-mail with other Pacific Coast schools that are raising salmon. Students also use Hyperstudio to prepare multimedia presentations featuring student-generated graphics, digital camera images, text, and sound. The presentations are shared with other schools.

Students maintain evaluation portfolios that demonstrate problem solving, cooperative learning, and hands-on investigations. Survey results reveal that NET helped students develop a sense of responsibility for the care of natural resources, taught students to use computers and other technology as tools for research, learning, and communication, built community interest in education, and encouraged student responsibility towards the community.

For more information, contact John Durand, jdurand@ softcom.net, Project NET (Neighborhoods, Education, and Technology), call Fairsite Elementary School (209) 745-1546, or visit the Project NET web site at www.galt.k12.ca.us (go to Fairsite and Project Net).
 

How to Create Great School Web Pages
Edited by Dorissa Bolinski and Jay Walters. Classroom Connect, Inc., Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Loose-leaf binder. 11 1/2" X 11 1/2". 248 pp w/index.

ISBN 0-932577-43-1

The World Wide Web is the fastest-growing element of the Internet and a powerful resource for K-12 education. A growing number of schools have developed service-learning projects with community outreach components that are appropriate for the Internet. Although Internet surfing lies within reach of many teachers and students, creating an Internet web page seems out of reach to many.

How to Create Great School Web Pages offers teachers and students the tools they need to develop their own web site. In addition to providing an overview of the Internet, the World Wide Web, HTML codes and programming, this guide explores the reasons for creating a school-based web site (sharing student text and graphics, collecting and disseminating data for research, providing information for parents and community, producing interactive lessons, and more), and covers issues of copyright, privacy, censorship, and security.

How to Create Great School Web Pages provides specific instructions on programming with HTML code, developing hyperlinks to other pages and sites, introducing graphics, working with digital audio and video files, and more. The guide concludes with methods for putting finished web pages on a web server.

Recurring features include a scenario that illustrates the use of information covered in each chapter, HTML code sequences, design guidelines, and resources in print and on the Internet. A bonus CD-ROM contains clip art, examples of web pages and shareware, and demonstration versions of web-related software.

Available for $89 from Classroom Connect, 1866 Colonial Village Lane, Lancaster, PA 17601. www.classroom.net. E-mail: connect@classroom.net. (800) 638-1639.
 
 

Software

Many web masters prefer the precision and control of using HTML codes to design their web sites. But two web site authoring programs—Microsoft FrontPage and Adobe PageMill—offer helpful shortcuts to creating web pages quickly and easily.
 

Microsoft FrontPage 98

Microsoft FrontPage 98 allows first-time web enthusiasts to get a new web site up and running quickly and easily while not holding back experienced users. Students and teachers who want to get good-looking web pages done fast will find FrontPage a useful program.

Microsoft FrontPage 98 builds complete web sites in which all pages share an easily modified design. This software automatically builds links and other navigation devices when you add or remove pages. FrontPage converts files from most popular graphics and word-processing software into standard web formats and builds dialog boxes, Java applets, and other web page components.

Earlier versions of FrontPage limited web page designers to a set of Microsoft’s design templates. The latest version allows web masters to custom-design their own web site structure. Web authors choose graphic "themes" to apply a consistent look to their site’s banners, buttons, text, and backgrounds.

FrontPage modifies HTML code but authors can still access the original codes even after they have been adapted by the FrontPage editor.

An interface allows you to import existing pages from pre-existing web programs. FrontPage also creates and modifies tables and forms. A FrontPage wizard helps build applets, which you can use to make text automatically jump to another page. The program also automatically verifies hyperlinks and rebuilds navigation tools when you rearrange a site.

Awards for FrontPage include "Editors’ Choice," PC Magazine and Internet Week, "Best of Year," Internet World, "Analysts’ Choice," PC Week. FrontPage runs on Windows 95 or Windows NT but is not available for Macintosh users.

Available for $149 (or upgrade for $55) from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond WA (800) 426-9400 or www.microsoft.com/frontpage.
 

Adobe PageMill 3.0

With Adobe PageMill, experts or novices can create web pages from Windows 95 or a Mac without knowing about HTML, URLs, or frames. Page links are easily created by dragging and dropping icons.

PageMill has retained a simplicity in its interface so that there is little learning difficulty. If you can use a word processor, you can use PageMill immediately.

PageMill 3.0 uses approximately 20 megabytes of hard disk space, significantly smaller than FrontPage. However, PageMill does not do as much as Front Page can do; the major difference is the display of links that is possible with Front Page. But if this is not a requirement for you, PageMill’s software is comparable.

If you are a beginner at page design, a menu bar gives familiar choices for File, Edit, View, Format, Windows, and Help options. While this program helps users avoid HTML whenever possible, there are times when HTML codes are useful for troubleshooting or precise modifications. PageMill makes accessing HTML easy with a Source option on the menu. A Style menu allows users to highlight text and change the emphasis, size, or other characteristics quickly. Other tool bar options work like most word processing programs.

PageMill allows you to import text and images from standard office applications like Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, AMI Pro, Claris Works, Lotus 1-2-3, Excel and others. When it comes to making page links, frames, tables, forms, or pull-down menus, PageMill is easy to use. The results are immediately visible with a "What You See Is What You Get" format.

Key new features in PageMill 3.0 include new page layout options, enhanced support for Java and multimedia, and thousands of templates, graphics, animations, and applets for creating customized web pages.

Other benefits of the program include spell checking and options for creating clickable maps, bullets, check boxes, password fields, submit buttons, pop-up menus, and more. The PageMill CD-ROM also contains Adobe Photoshop LE, with images, audio clips, Java applets, QuickTime movies, Shockwave animations, and templates for making your Web designs look professional.

Available for $99 ($49 special offer for registered owners of any other Adobe Professional Product—PhotoShop, PageMaker, Illustrator) from Adobe Systems Inc., 345 Park Ave., San Jose, CA 95110, (800) 411-8657. A free preview version of Adobe PageMill 3.0 can be downloaded from Adobe’s web site at www.adobe.com.

Character Education: Restoring Respect and Responsibility in Our Schools
Thomas Lickona, Ph.D., National Professional Resources, Inc., Port Chester, New York.

ISBN 1-887943-08-0. VHS, 44 minutes.

This video presents arguments for schools playing a role in the development of student respect, responsibility, and moral education. Students, teachers, and educators model methods for teaching values and character education. Teaching strategies introduce moral discipline, cooperative learning, democracy in the classroom, teachers as role models, and methods to include schools, parents, and the community as character-education partners.

Helpful for teachers, administrators, and parents who are considering character education for their school.

Available for $79.95 from National Professional Resources, Inc., 25 South Regent Street, Port Chester, NY, 10573, (800) 453-7461.
 

Just Chill! Dealing with Anger
Sunburst Communications, Inc., Pleasantville, New York. ISBN 0-7805-4177-4. VHS, 34 minutes.

Just Chill! uses strong and credible scenarios and intelligent narration to create models that young people can use to recognize their own anger and learn to control it. In addition to offering methods of channeling anger in positive directions, this video provides strategies for preventing violence.

Just Chill! explores the premise that violence and self-destructive behavior are learned, not inherited. Therefore, negative behavior can be unlearned and controlled. Dramatic scenarios explore conflicts that arise at school, at home, and on the street. A narrator provides objective overviews and suggests methods for dealing with misplaced anger, negative stereotyping, drug and alcohol abuse, and for finding help.

Ideal for young people in grades 7-12.

Available for $199.95 with 30-day free trial from Sunburst Communications, 39 Washington Avenue, Box 40, Pleasantville, NY 10570, (800) 431-1934.
 

Joining Hands Community Service-Learning Resource Kit
Rahima Wade, Iowa Service-Learning Initiative, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. Loose-leaf binder. 10" X 11 1/2"

The Joining Hands resource kit provides outlines and strategies for implementing service-learning projects. Separate kits for two vocational levels (Primary, grades K-3, and Intermediate, grades 4-8) cover five community themes: animals, the environment, poverty and hunger, generations, and school and community.

Joining Hands defines service learning, outlines action plans, and provides methods for choosing a service-learning activity and asking reflection questions before, during, and after project activities. It also suggests methods to integrate service-learning into elementary school curriculum, provides a bibliography and a list of resources to facilitate research, design service-learning activities, and locate outside resource people.

Also included are two children’s literature books and non-fiction materials that provide additional ideas and step-by-step instructions for projects. A tote bag large enough for all Joining Hands materials is included.

Available for $99 (savings available on larger orders) from Iowa Service-Learning Partnership, 215 Seashore Hall Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1402, (800) 369-IOWA.
 

Do Something’s Brick Awards for Community Leadership honor 10 outstanding leaders under the age of 30 who are successfully strengthening their communities. Each award winner gets a $10,000 grant to support his or her community work. The national grand prize winner gets a $100,000 grant. Deadline for Brick applications is May 1, 1998. Get an application from Do Something, 423 West 55th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10019, www.dosomething.org/

Build: a Free Magazine About Young People Building Communities is a slick quarterly magazine from Do Something (www.dosomething.org/), the non-profit that gives small grants to youth engaged in service projects. With layouts reminiscent of Wired magazine, Build’s mission is to inspire young people (16–30) to become leaders and positive forces within their communities. Request a free subscription by writing Build at 625 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022 or by calling (212) 523-1175.

Who Cares: The Tool Kit for Social Change is a bimonthly magazine aimed at 18- to 24-year-olds who are working to change their communities. It has interviews and articles on people making a difference and various features under the headings "toolbox" (tools and techniques for getting things done), "civil society" (ways to engage with others in building the community), and "the buzz." Although the web site (www.whocares.org/) offers subscriptions for $15 per year, a card inside the latest issue offers a free one-year subscription as a special introductory offer. Contact Who Cares at P.O. Box 34687, 1400 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20043-4101, or call (800) 628-1692.

Constitutional Rights Foundation(CRF) is among the leading national organizations promoting school-based youth service and service learning. Since 1962, CRF has used education to address some of America’s most serious youth-related problems: apathy, alienation, and lack of commitment to the values essential to our democratic way of life.

Through a variety of civic-education programs developed by CRF staff, young people prepare for effective citizenship and learn the vital role they can play in our society. Empowered with knowledge and skills, our youth can interact successfully with our political, legal, and economic systems.

CRF is dedicated to assuring our country’s future by investing in our youth today. For more information about CRF programs including Youth Task Force L.A., Active Citizenship Today (a collaboration with Close Up Foundation), CityYouth, California State Mock Trial Competition, History Day in California, Sports & the Law, or curriculum materials, please contact our office.

We welcome your recommendations of themes for future issues, conference listings, resources materials, program evaluations, book reviews, or curriculum and activities ideas. Thank you for your contributions and most of all for your dedication to youth.
 

©1998, Constitutional Rights Foundation, 601 South Kingsley Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90005 (213) 487-5590  Fax (213) 386-0459   www.crf-usa.org
 

Haley J. Fromholz, President; Susan J. Troy, Immediate Past President; Todd Clark, Executive Director; Marshall Croddy, Director of Program and Materials Development; Kathleen Kirby, Senior Consultant; Charles Degelman, Bill Hayes, Writers and Editors; Julie Glaser, Program Coordinator; Andrew Costly, Production Manager.