The Helping Us Grow Through Service and Smiles (HUGSS) program at Challenger Middle School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, involves the entire student body of 900 students, parents, and teachers in community service. The program helps students develop a positive self-concept and enhances their skills in the areas of coping, decision making, critical thinking, and cooperation. Whenever possible, service is integrated into classroom learning to strengthen academic skills as well.
Community agencies are selected by teachers with input from students. After a project has been selected, a representative from that agency comes to the school to meet with students and discuss possible ways that students can become involved in service. Volunteers keep journals of their activities and stay in contact with the agency representative to discuss their experiences and concerns. Each project is regularly evaluated through surveys given to students, agency representatives, and people served.
HUGSS encourages student interaction with people of all ages. Each year a team of students "adopts" a group of elderly "grandparents" from the Colorado Springs Silver Key Association. Students bring their elder friends to school for tours and spend time at the senior center. Another group of students became "big buddies" for preschoolers in a Head Start Program. In conjunction with the Humane Society's Pet Mobile Project, students have taken puppies to nursing homes, hospitals, and preschools. Other projects have involved organizations as diverse as hospices, an environmental outreach center, Special Olympics, American Red Cross, and shelters for homeless people.
An Enrichment/Resources Coordinator serves as a liaison between community agencies and the school, monitors student activities, and serves as a resource person for faculty. Because faculty members are encouraged to participate in the community service projects and to be caring role models for their students, the Enrichment/Resources Coordinator, who also is a certified teacher, often will substitute for teachers involved in a HUGSS project.