• Help staff members to see the immediate benefits of additional service that youth can provide in meeting the organization's mission.
• Encourage staff to consider the future benefit of developing connected, committed future citizens who will understand and respond to the specific community needs addressed by the organization.

Challenge:
"Service-learning may meet the goals of the school, but it doesn't help us respond to the mission of our organization."

• Clearly establish up front, with the school, that the organization will also need to meet its goals through the service activity.
• Use presentations made by teaching staff or by students themselves to convince agency managers of the value of the program.

Challenge:
"We have limited staff and resources, and don't think we can sustain the diversion that service-learning would mean for our organization."

• Consider joining with other community partners in a broad coalition. This will enable the service-learning partnership to continue, even when one agency is temporarily unable to contribute staff time.

Challenge:
"The school seems to be teaching a political point-of-view that is not shared by our organization, or by many in the community itself."

• Develop programs that present balanced perspectives, especially with respect to areas of controversy.

"The communities of Beaver, Hebo, and Cloverdale, Oregon have many residents tied to jobs in the timber industry," explains Warren Tausch. "Those folks would not respond well to a school program they felt was training their kids to be tree huggers."

Challenge:
"Why am I being asked to do the job of the school? I am not a trained educator."

• Encourage agency staff to consider the value in their own expertise, and to see service-learning as a way of introducing their world of work to young people.
• Explain that service-learning is not meant to replace the teacher, nor to put the organization staff person in an uncomfortable role. Help the staff to see themselves as resources in the educational process.

Challenge:
"How have other community partners handled the same issue or situation that we are dealing with?"

• Develop a network with other service-learning community partners in your area. Schools engaged in service-learning have long-recognized the value in sharing strategies for success.
  

Troubleshooting: A Few Tips When Dealing With Teens
Sometimes problems may arise. The positive traits you display when handling a problem serve as good role models for your teen volunteers. When analyzing a problem, take into account the student's frame of reference. When addressing the problem, remember that youth volunteers need to be spoken to in terms they can understand.

Since growth should be a by-product of volunteering, encourage youth volunteers to maintain their curiosity and enthusiasm toward their task even in the face of difficulties. Your support will help.

Assigning the Right Tasks to a Volunteer
Ask the volunteers to read through these descriptions and pick the one(s) they feel they most relate to.

Which of these six phrases best describe you:

• Artistic: an interest in creative expression of feelings or ideas. I like using my artistic ability to invent, improvise, adapt, and experiment.
• Social: interest in helping others with their mental, spiritual, social, or physical concerns. My past experiences include activities like disc jockeying, public speaking, writing for the school paper, organizing games, etc. I like reading, writing, teaching, memorizing, drawing people out, motivating, counseling, and raising other's self-esteem.
• Enterprising: interested in influencing others and enjoy the challenge and responsibility of leadership. My past experiences include things like managing a paper route, selling candy or tickets, Junior Achievement, babysitting, and doing money-making projects. I like to start new tasks, organize others, lead, sell, promote, and persuade.
• Task oriented: interested in jobs that require accuracy and attention to detail. I like jobs such as record keeping, billing, filing, assisting in developing a budget, and managing money. I am good at follow-through and getting the job done.
• Practical: action oriented. I like physical jobs and am interested in building, repairing, altering, or restoring products. I enjoy things like mowing lawns, using a printing press, and fixing things. I am an outdoor person.
• Investigative: curious about the world around me, and interested in researching to get answers. My past experiences include things like computer work, assisted in a lab, reading maps, and comparative shopping. I like to think and use logic.

Ideas for Assigning Tasks to the:

• Artistic person: This type of person usually dislikes routine and supervision. Artistic individuals tend to be expressive and intuitive and probably need a job where they can be spontaneous, creative and, possibly, gain attention.
• Social person: The social volunteer will function best where there is an opportunity for social contact to act interested, kind, and friendly. These volunteers can make friends and are not afraid to approach people.
• Enterprising person: Because of their adventurous streak, these energetic volunteers probably dislike routine, preferring more independence. They like to be persuasive and are not afraid to be assertive. They are ambitious and like reward and recognition.
• Task-oriented person: These volunteers tend to be most comfortable with specific, well-defined tasks that they can complete through their careful, persistent, and conscientious efforts.
• Practical, action-oriented person: The volunteers in this category like to complete tasks and are confident at solving problems that involve practicality and working with their hands. They are happiest when they are active. Socially they may be shy, but they are at home handling objects and tools.
• Investigative person: The investigative type likes to use his or her mind to solve problems. These volunteers seek to organize and figure things out, often independently, and are willing to look for answers.
  

Practices Issue Brief on Service-Learning by Susan Abravanel, National Center for Learning and Citizenship (Spring 2003):Education Commission of the States (ECS)