"The hardest part was choosing which organization to represent," said 13-year-old Michal David, who is in eighth grade. Later, they will write essays about their chosen cause, and use math and economic skills to scrutinize their organizations' effectiveness and financial performance.Īfter that, they will perform volunteer work in the field they are studying, and interview the heads of nonprofit groups to determine if the organizations' values are in line with their own. First, the students were required to develop a personal mission statement to guide them through the process. Agard, executive director of the Michigan organization Learning to Give.Ī project of the Council of Michigan Foundations, Learning to Give seeks to encourage the teaching of philanthropy in schools, and offers teachers more than 800 lesson plans through its Web site at no cost.Īt Hausner, it is still early in the school year, and the seventh graders' work is just beginning.
There are approximately two dozen colleges and universities that offer master's degrees on the nonprofit sector, and a small but growing number of schools that provide formal instruction in philanthropy to students in kindergarten through the 12th grade, said Kathryn A.