Green Light New Orleans has created service learning partnerships with Tulane, Loyola, and Xavier Universit and local high schools. Service learning is an educational approach that integrates experiential learning and community service in an academic context. Learning by doing engages students to apply academic knowledge and critical thinking skills to meet genuine community needs. Through reflection and assessment, students gain a deeper understanding of course content and the importance of civic engagement.

 



Green Light New Orleans Service Learning
Date Class Project Description Results
Spring 2011

Ben Franklin
High School
Louisiana Learn and Serve Commission

Green Light was the recipient of a mid-year Learn & Serve grant supported by the Louisiana Serve Commission in the Office of Lieutenant Governor. This award has enabled us to develop a service learning project with 17 students from the Green Society at Ben Franklin High School, a student-led environmental organization. Louisiana Learn & Serve funds programs that are primarily youth-driven and youth-led, and the Ben Franklin students will be involved in the planning and implementation of the project. Students will participate in 6 CFL installations and 2 backyard garden building events. They will learn about energy efficiency and weatherization from Green Light and Entergy, and a representative from the Climate project will present the Inconvenient Truth power point for them. Finally, they will have the opportunity teach elementary students about environmental awareness as part of our SPARK program. Over the course of the semester, they will participate in several reflections, which will take various forms (such as discussions, written reflections, and blogs). The program will provide the students with the opportunity to learn about civic engagement, energy conservation, and environmental stewardship by putting good ideas into action and contributing to our community.  
Spring 2011 Tulane ECON 3330 Environmental and Natural Resources
 The partnership revolves around a benefits transfer exercise where students assess the economic benefits of energy efficient light bulb installations. Benefits include reduced energy costs, lower local environmental pollutants, and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Their project is to quantify the environmental benefits (including reductions in greenhouse gases). This course partnership is a continuation of FALL Semester 2010.The students also participate in installations, conduct research, and submit a final report based on their findings. The course builds on the findings ofthe fall 2010 course.  
Spring 2011 Loyola PR Writing Course Upper division communication students in this course will develop a media kit for Green Light New Orleans that targets a national audience. The kit will focus on Green Light’s accomplishments and also on the BuyGreenGiveGreen program.  
Spring 2011 Tulane MGMT 4180 Management in Technology and Innovation This course is focusing on the ECO 2020 Challenge which calls global society to reduce our carbon footprint 20% by the year 2020. In order to meet this goal, the first step would need to be reducing and implementing responsible use of our limited natural resources (forest, fossil fuels, etc). In order to successfully implement effective mass renewable energy projects, reduction is key. Service Learners will be expected to partake in GLNO installations within our Tip the Block area. Additionally, they will conduct "needs" surveys to assess what other carbon reducing applications, residences would be willing to implement into their own homes.  
Spring
2011		 Tulane MGMT 4160 Management Leadership This is the second partnership with Tulane's MGMT4160 course. The students will have a choice of working with 3 different non-profits partnered with the course (including Green Light). The potential Green Light project proposed for the students is to create a fundraising skeem to fund an installation with in the New Orleans area.  
Spring 2011 Xavier Freshman Seminar This course is a requirement of all incoming freshman. Freshman seminar is an intro to Xavier University, New Orleans culture, and the New Orleans community. During this course, students will get an intimate experience meeting locals of the New Orleans community through installing free energy efficient light bulbs within their homes.  
Fall 2010 Tulane ECON 3330 Environmental and Natural Resources
 This economics course partnership revolves around a benefits transfer exercise where students assess the economic benefits of energy efficient light bulb installations. Benefits include reduced energy costs, lower local environmental pollutants, and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Their project is to quantify the environmental benefits (including reductions in greenhouse gases). PDF
Fall 2010 LOYOLA CMMN-A360-001 Advanced Layout and Design The students are assigned to design a tangible product for Green Light New Orleans and give students real experience working with clients. The students were given the task of designing a new energy saving tip brochure that Green Light New Orleans can give to residents. We had received so many great final products and chose the top 2 designs to be published for our organization's use. coming soon
Fall 2010 Tulane MGMT 4160 Management Leadership Each student was required to lead a one-day service learning project. Meaning that each student defined a project and created a team of 2 others to carry out the vision of their project. They were responsible for all aspects of implementation and were also responsible for assessing any aspect of leadership that would be studied in the course and brought to life by the project. Toward the end of that semester, students exchanged lessons of leadership that came from their projects and concluded the course with an examination of connections between leadership and service.  
Fall 2010 TIDES 1010 Leadership, Politics, Power and Change This is a freshman seminar course focusing on learning about leadership first hand through working with a local community organization. Each student participated in one day of service with Green Light and Communities in Schools (a second partnering organization), and then chose which community partner they wished to work with for the semester. The group of students working with Green Light developed suggestions for our 10,000 People for New Orleans project and its social media presence. On the final day of class, the students pitched their proposals to our organization. PPT
Fall 2010 PHIL 393 Environmental Ethics This course focuses on service as a way to gain a better understanding of how a community functions and acts together. This is a key component to understanding the foundations for environmental ethics as presented in Book Five of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. In short, Nicomachean Ethics says that in order to be a truly just (or a completely virtuous) person, one must be virtuous in the sense of their soul as well as within the community. Students worked with a non-profit of their choice (3 partnering Environmental non-profits, including Green Light) to get an understanding of doing good for the sake of the community and ultimately in order to lead a virtuous life. Activities with Green Light included light bulb installations, tabling at events, and in office volunteer work.