Impact Project: Creating a Student-Led Service Club
Published on January 14, 2026
Creating a Student-Led Service Club
SERVICE LEARNING: IMPACT PROJECT
đź“ť Overview
In this 18-to-20-hour Impact Project, students will put the principles of collaboration and communication into action as they work in groups to design their own student-led service club, building their shared capacity to respond to community needs. As a part of this project, students:
- Learn about how to form a sustainable student-led club
- Establish their club
- Collaboratively research a community need
- Identify potential community partners
- Design a service-learning project
đź“š TESOL Focus
This Impact Project (IP) will develop the 21st Century Skills of collaboration and communication and guides teachers to:
- facilitate or guide student-led projects
- help students weigh and justify their choices and evaluate impact
- support student choice while providing appropriate limits
- identify students' individual needs to help them thrive in collaborative roles
🎯 Goals
As a result of this Impact Project (IP), students will be able to:
- identify their individual strengths and evaluate their group’s capacity to respond to community needs
- define their group’s shared goals and values in a mission statement
- determine appropriate group leadership roles and elect leaders
- research a problem or need in the community
- evaluate the approaches of community partners to solving a community problem
- collaborate with one another to plan a student response to a community need
- use reflection as a tool to evaluate impact and promote positve group morale and collaboration
❤️ Potential Impact
This Impact Project (IP) benefits both students and community members:
- Personal Impact: Students will develop their communication and collaboration skills as they work together to define the purpose of their student-led service club, assign collaborative roles, research a community problem, and plan a service-learning project.
- Community Impact: Students will cultivate a relationship with a community partner and establish the organizational infrastructure for sustainable, high impact service-learning projects.
🔎 Inquiry Notebook Prompts
As students complete the Impact Project, they will document their research, observations, analyses, and reflections in Inquiry Notebooks.
On Page 4 of this Impact Project, you will find six creative Inquiry Notebook Prompts to guide students' critical thinking and encourage them to reflect on their personal passions, challenges in their communities, important leadership skills, and project management. Involve students in their learning by letting them choose one inquiry prompt to answer during each stage of the Impact Project (beginning, middle, and end).
On Page 4 of this Impact Project, you will find six creative Inquiry Notebook Prompts to guide students' critical thinking and encourage them to reflect on their personal passions, challenges in their communities, important leadership skills, and project management. Involve students in their learning by letting them choose one inquiry prompt to answer during each stage of the Impact Project (beginning, middle, and end).
đź““ Impact Statements
After completing the Service Learning lesson plans and Creating a Student-Led Service Club Impact Project, students will review their Inquiry Notebook entries and reflect on their experience.
On Page 14 of this Impact Project, you will find an Impact Statement Prompt to help students reflect on the overall impact of the unit and project on their learning. Students write their Impact Statements after completing the Impact Project.
On Page 14 of this Impact Project, you will find an Impact Statement Prompt to help students reflect on the overall impact of the unit and project on their learning. Students write their Impact Statements after completing the Impact Project.