Blog

Here at Focus the Nation, we learn best by doing.  We learn by engaging with super smart people on the cutting-edge of energy, we learn from listening to communities, and we learn through designing and implementing programs aimed at developing our next generation of clean energy leaders.  Everyday, our staff members stretch their brains by learning through service.  We find it uber-effective.  The campuses and the students we work with in our Forums-to-Action program agree. That’s why our clean energy leadership development programs are designed to help people learn, grow and make a positive energy impact on their community.

Service-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.  Service-learning has proven so effective that many campuses have departments dedicated solely to it or have partnered with our friends at Campus Compact to design and deliver service-learning opportunities to their students.

At Focus the Nation, our Forums-to-Action (F2A) program energizes service-learning, literally.  Students go through a transformative community engagement experience centered on issues pertaining to energy; transportation, fuel, electricity, renewables, sustainability.   While immersing in the F2A curriculum and planning a forum students learn about what the most relevant energy issues are in their community and collaborate to take action on it.  

At the University of Portland, F2A student leaders have implemented a biodiesel project which will expand to include the surrounding community to create a “closed-loop, local energy-sourced lifestyle”.  This project not only benefits the students on the UP campus, but  also the North Portland community they call home.

The awesome F2A team at Gainesville State College in Georgia has chosen to energize service-learning with a different approach.   The team is revving up for their February 15th, 2012 Clean Energy Forum which will help launch their Home Energy Audit project in their local community. These young leaders are serving their community by reducing energy bills while conserving energy.

If you are interested in energizing service-learning on your campus the first step is to let us know!   We will be choosing our 2012-2013 F2A Campuses this spring!

Students can launch an F2A team!
Campus faculty/staff can launch an F2A team!

Or contact Marisa Pond, our Programs Coordinator, at marisa@focusthenation.org for more information.