Description and History

Each year, since 1993, approximately 280 7th and 8th grade students (including special education, bilingual and ESL students) participate in our program. As part of the family consumer science / humanities curriculum, they identify community needs and form 45-80 service teams to help meet those needs. Service learning teams are matched with adult advisors who include staff members and administrators, parents and community representatives.

In September of 1992, we had a new school building and Joan Mularz and Sheila Kennedy were hired as Family Consumer Science teachers for grades 5-8. They wanted to design a modern and meaningful curriculum that would prepare students for healthy and knowledgeable lives. At the same time, Fleet Bank approached the school with the offer of a community partnership if the school would be interested in community service. It seemed to be a good addition to the curriculum and it was designed as the third quarter of both 7th and 8th grade curriculums. That year, Fleet provided an introductory celebration, seven adult advisors and an award ceremony at the end for exemplary teams. They supported us for two more years to help us on our way. After that, Joan Mularz and Jacqueline Carr, another Family Consumer Science teacher, introduced more technology into the program and began to apply for grants to help expand the horizons of the program.

In 1996, we began a collaboration with the computer technology teacher, Maureen Sweeney and our media center director, Dr. Nina Asgeirsson. For the past five years, students have fully utilized internet and intranet capabilities, as well as wordprocessing skills to produce their research reports. They have also produced multimedia video infomercials utilizing computer digital video editing in order to educate the larger community about the needs they have identified. In 2000, we added the capability of putting the videos into CD-ROM format, as well as VHS format.

In 1997, some of our students participated in a TV show for MCET (Massachusetts Corporation for Educational Television) demonstrating digital video editing and (in cooperation with our art department) the use of graphics in website design. We introduced website design into our program in 1998 and, in 1999, the first Butler Youth Leaders website was created. In 2000, we formed a Butler School partnership with Kids Energy Corporation, enabling students to apply online for grants for their projects and to design individual project websites that Kids Energy made available for their use.

This program has been the recipient of a Massachusetts Department of Education Lighthouse Grant , four innovative teacher grants from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, one service learning grant, and one grant from the Compaq Computer Corporation.

This program has been presented at the Macworld Computer Technology Conference in Boston, four NELMS (New England League of Middle Schools) conferences in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the Christa Mcauliffe Technology Conference In New Hampshire, a MassCUE (Massachusetts Computer Using Educators) conference, a Department of Education Technology Conference, a Massachusetts Title I Conference and at several workshops for the Lowell Public Schools Professional Development Program.

Materials from the Butler Youth Leaders became part of a permanent archive and time capsule in the Smithsonian National Museum Of Natural History, Washington, D.C. in 1999.

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