Day 1 :
Embark on Your Service-Learning Trip to Philadelphia
- Departure from Home Airport:
Relax and enjoy your scheduled flight.
- Upon Arrival:
Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. You’ll also have a private coach and driver while touring for the next six days.
- City in Brief:
Philadelphia is the birthplace of the United States. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed at the Pennsylvania State House and 11 years later the United States Constitution was adopted on the same spot. Philadelphia is a city filled with excellent attractions, including the world's largest municipal park as well as America’s largest collection of public art and its widest variety of urban architecture.
- Room and Board:
Your base for the next six nights will be in the Phoenix area, in dorm-style* accommodations where breakfast will be provided. *Hotel accommodations can be substituted upon request.
- Welcome and Orientation Session:
This afternoon, you’ll have an orientation session with your Tour Director who will cover the health and safety aspects of your program as well as explain plans for the week ahead.
- Group Dinner:
This evening, enjoy dinner together.
- Daily Reflection and Group Discussion:
"We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience." - John Dewey
Each evening of the program, we’ll set time aside to update your Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come up during the day.
Day 2 :
Community Cornerstone: Community Infrastructure and Enrichment
- Project Orientation:
Start the morning with a brief orientation, where you’ll discuss the day's service activity, the importance and relevance of the project, and how you can apply what you learn to your life upon returning home. Note: Service activities can be developed based on group needs and requests.
- Housing and History:
Many cities have issues regarding affordable housing and homelessness, and natural disasters have only made the issue worse. These issues persist in different neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia. Working on housing and homelessness is not only a great way to help the city rebuild but also an important way to learn about its history. Projects may include:
• Home rebuilding and construction
• Vacant lot clearing
• Assisting local homeless shelters
- Lunch:
Lunch will be provided at the project site.
- Historic Walking Tour:
Enjoy a Footsteps of the Founding Fathers walking tour in William Penn's "Green Countrie Towne," Philadelphia, which served as the Federal capital from 1790 to 1800 in addition to being the capital of Colonial America and Pennsylvania. In "America's Most Historic Square Mile," see the Carpenter's Hall, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, and The Liberty Bell, America's most cherished artifact, cast in honor of the 50th anniversary of Penn's Charter of Privilege.
- Group Dinner and Reflection:
This evening, enjoy dinner as a group followed by time to reflect on the day's activities and discuss what you have learned.
- Live Music:
You’ll go listen to live music after dinner! Philadelphia is another U.S. city known for its music.
Day 3 :
Community Cornerstone: Community Infrastructure and Enrichment
- Project Orientation:
Begin the day with a brief orientation to discuss the day's service activity, the importance and relevance of the project, and how you can apply what you learn to your life upon returning home.
- Neighborhood Revitalization:
A city is made up of many vibrant and unique neighborhoods, each with its own history, culture, highlights, and challenges. Neighborhood revitalization emphasizes residents’ quality of life, specifically in low-income areas. This neighborhood approach is a great way to support Philadelphia while learning more about what makes the city special—its people and neighborhoods. Projects may include:
• Neighborhood and park beautification projects (murals, plantings, etc.)
• Park clean-up and planting
• Blighted property and lot clean-up
• Community center support
• Neighborhood canvassing and surveying
• Storm drain clearing
- Lunch:
Lunch will be provided at the project site.
- Reading Terminal Market:
Philadelphia is known for its varied neighborhoods. Your group will walk through numerous parts of the city and see what makes it so special. Spend time exploring Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market. One of America's largest and oldest public markets, housed since 1893 in a National Historic Landmark building, the market offers an incredible selection of produce, cheeses, baked goods, and confections as well as the widest variety of restaurants under one roof.
- Group Dinner:
Enjoy dinner together.
- Reflection and Group Discussion:
This evening, you’ll view a documentary relating to Philadelphia, the importance of your service work, and how it’s benefiting the area. Afterward, there will be discussion and reflection time.
- Evening Activity:
After dinner, you’ll take a short trip across the river to New Jersey. From the ferry, you’ll be treated with a view of the Philadelphia skyline.
Day 4 :
Community Cornerstone: Conservation and the Environment
- Project Orientation:
Start the morning with a brief orientation, where you’ll discuss the day's service activity, the importance and relevance of the project, and how you can apply what you learn to your life.
- Environmental Sustainability:
Environmental sustainability is one of the greatest challenges facing the country today. From rising sea levels to sinking wetlands and bayous to natural disasters, the future is dependent upon responding and adapting to climate change. Environmental sustainability projects not only have an immense impact on the community but also provide great educational opportunities for the volunteers. Projects may include:
• Working in public green spaces and urban gardens/farms
• Ecosystem restoration
• Conservation and disaster management projects
• Planting trees and rain gardens in flood-prone areas
- Lunch:
Lunch will be provided at the project site.
- Schuylkill River Trail:
Spend the afternoon exploring the Schuylkill River Trail. Partially complete as of 2019, the trail is planned to ultimately run about 140 miles from the river's headwaters in Schuylkill County to Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia.
- Group Dinner and Evening Reflection:
Enjoy dinner as a group followed by time to reflect on the day’s activities and discuss what you’ve learned.
- Rocky Statue:
The Rocky Statue and the "Rocky Steps," also known as the Art Museum Steps, are two of the most popular attractions in Philadelphia. Visiting the statue, running up the steps, and taking a picture at the top is pretty much a rite of passage on your first visit to Philadelphia.
- Philadelphia Museum of Art:
Like Philadelphia's own Parthenon, the Philadelphia Museum of Art sits majestically on a rise at the end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. This temple’s vast collections of art make it the third-largest art museum in the country and an absolute must-see.
Day 5 :
Community Cornerstone: Education and Literacy
- Project Orientation:
Begin the day with a brief orientation to discuss the day's service activity, the importance and relevance of the project, and how you can apply what you learn from to your life at home.
- Education Service Activity:
Education is the key component to the sustainability, long-term growth, and prosperity of a city. From elementary school to high school, a community can only go as far as the quality of its education system. Unfortunately, work is needed at many schools across the country. Education-related volunteer projects not only provide short- and long-term benefits to the communities served but they also highlight the challenges and benefits of the education system. Projects may include:
• School and playground beautification
• Classroom and library organization
• Painting classrooms
• Technology support
- Lunch:
Lunch will be provided at the project site.
- Local excursion:
This afternoon, you’ll visit one of Philadelphia’s incredible museums.
- Group dinner and evening reflection:
Enjoy dinner together followed by some reflection and discussion time.
Day 6 :
Community Cornerstone: Education and Literacy
- Project Orientation:
Start the morning with a brief orientation, where you’ll discuss the day's service activity, the importance and relevance of the project, and how you can apply what you learn to your daily life.
- Arts & Culture Service Activity:
The arts have a tremendous ability to change individuals and groups in positive ways—they can improve the local economy and increase its residents’ quality of life. Volunteer art projects can help cultivate community by communicating the area’s history and bridging the gap between cultures. Projects may include:
• Mural painting
• Museum or community art center support
• Cemetery clean-up
• Working at a local art or music festival
- Lunch:
Lunch will be provided at the project site.
- Independence Hall:
Step inside where both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted. Independence Hall is part of Independence National Historical Park and a World Heritage Site.
- The Liberty Bell:
Visit the Liberty Bell, an iconic symbol of American Independence cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." Bells were rung to mark the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8, 1776, and while there is no contemporary account of the Liberty Bell ringing, most historians believe it was one of the bells that would have been rung.
- Final Reflection and Discussion Session:
This evening, you’ll make the final entries in your Reflection Journal and share some of the most significant observations and perspectives that have taken shape throughout your Service-Learning week in Philadelphia. We’ll also discuss how these experiences may be most relevant for us all as we return home.
- Dave & Buster’s:
Enjoy time at Dave & Buster’s on the Philadelphia Riverfront.
Day 7 :
Departure from Philadelphia
- Depart for Home:
Your rewarding and enjoyable Service-Learning in Philadelphia program comes to an end as your Tour Director accompanies your group to the airport on your final day.
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