1. SERVICE-LEARNING
MINI-GRANT APPLICATION
TEACHER: Mr. Callahan - Ms. Durand DATE: April 16, 2009
PROJECT TITLE: Utopian Gardens
SCHOOL: Drury High School GRADE LEVEL: 9th
(Feel free to use the reverse side or attach an additional page if necessary.)
Authentic Need: Briefly describe the community need your project will address.
How will students be involved in assessing the need?
The Utopian Garden allows students to search for problems in their society and understand that they can
take a step towards solving it. The Freshmen English Comprehension class have been researching problems in
North Adams, or Berkshire County and then creating step-by-step solutions. After listing a few problems as a
class, students discussed that one of the problems in our society is financial shortages due to the current
economy. This led the discussion to job shortages, Department of Children and Families, discrimination and
hunger. The community need that will be addressed by the project is hunger.
The students decided to focus on trying to solve the problem of hunger. Within the utopian unit, students
will be imagining and planning ways to make North Adams into a utopia according to his/her individual utopian
visions. This will include tackling all the problems the students find in their environment and society.
Purpose: What is the service component? What will your students do?
Who will be the community recipients/beneficiaries of the service? How will this project help?
The students in the Freshmen English Comprehension class will identify problems within North Adams
and try to transform it into an agrarian utopia. Subsequently, students will form step-by-step solutions to each
problem. Then student will advertise their utopias by creating a brochure or slide show including all of these
problems and their solutions.
The vegetables the students grow will also be apart of their utopias. Throughout the unit students will learn
about different agrarian utopian visions and communes in history to which they can model their individual
utopias.
As a step toward making North Adams into a utopia, students will donate their fully grown harvested
vegetables to the Berkshire Food Project.
The end result will produce a fully developed original utopian vision displayed either on a brochure or a
slide show along with a growing or matured vegetable that the student cared for over a period of time.
Will you have a college connection: (class partner; prep or service toward same goal; student teacher?)
MCLA contact: Office of Service and Citizenship, 662-5251
Spencer Moser

2. Massachusetts Frameworks Connections:
English and Language Arts Standards: 19, 21, 24
Nutrition Strand: 3.7
Civic Education Connections: Not required, but strengthens the application.
(Consider civic outcomes sheet in your planning, see attached)
Outcomes and Evaluation: What academic skills will your students learn? (When possible
indicate specific academic skills as well as broad concepts as they relate to
MA Frameworks, district goals, curriculum unit goals, civic goals, etc.)
How will you know that students acquired skills? What evidence will you collect?
Please submit examples of any assessment tools or reflection activities used.
Students will learn how to write with a clear and coherent focus.
Students will learn how to use a variety of sources to do research.
Students will learn how to make step-by-step solutions towards solving a major problem.
Students will learn that they can make a difference in their town.
Students will learn how to grow certain vegetables
Participation: Anticipated # to be involved in the planning and service components
from each/any of the following groups (do not count beneficiaries of service here)
Teachers____2____ College Profs ________
Pre-K – 12 Students____24____ College Students________
Parent/Adult Volunteers_______ Student Teachers___1___
Community Organization(s) _________Berkshire Foods Project_____________
(please name)
_________________________________________
DATA:
For our data collection requirements, please estimate the number of (hours, weeks, months, semesters)
that students will be engaged in the various components of the service-learning project:

3. PLANNING AND PREP REFLECTION SERVICE
2-3 Weeks 1 Day 5 weeks
Budget: (Mini-grants do not pay for stipends.)
Please estimate/itemize resources you will need to complete the project,
such as supplies, transportation, etc.
3 Different types of seeds………………...……………… .$ 3.57
4 Bags of Soil…………………………………………...…$ 37.52
3 Cultivators………………………………...……………..$ 3.00
3 Trowels……………………………………...……….…..$ 3.00
4 Window pots………………………………………...…..$ 32.00
5 Spray bottles……………………………………………..$ 8.00
3 bags of Latex Disposable gloves………………………...$ 5.46
Total……………………………………………………….$ 92.55