This year, Brownell Talbot is reimagining service learning to catalyze deeper community connections and empower students as advocates for their community. While service has long been a BT priority, new approaches are strengthening outcomes for partners, participants, and the causes served.
Led by Dean of Students Meg Harms, faculty now implement a rigorous IPARDE cycle when designing projects - spanning intentional Inventory and Investigation before Action, then ensuring quality Reflection, Demonstration and Evaluation afterwards. This thoughtful scaffolding promotes meaningful experiences beyond simple volunteerism.
Upper School Houses engaged in activities like skill mapping and passion project speed dating to align service initiatives to student strengths and interests. By considering their own talents and learning objectives first, participants can now better apply their gifts to community needs.
Take Hitchcock House, who partnered once more with Metro Community College’s 180 Re-entry Assistance Program for the formerly incarcerated. But this year, equipped with new tools, students deepened the reciprocal impact. Attending re-entry meetings and directly engaging with program members granted vulnerable insights into the reintegration journey. Cameron Vakili‑Zadeh, ’27, reflected on playing UNO with program participants and realizing the humanity beneath stereotypes, saying the service learning project introduced him to “some of the nicest people I’ve met. It was a very impactful experience. Meeting people from different perspectives than you is always a good thing.”
Hitchcock will return later this spring during their second Service Learning day to tour the facility and gain a richer understanding of daily life after prison.
A key tenet of BT’s Portrait of a Graduate calls for ethical citizens influencing humanity - beginning locally. Through reimagined service learning, students gain confidence to advocate for needs beyond themselves. BT nurtures this progression thoughtfully, ensuring growth for its students and communities alike.
