Service Trips for Your School: Yay or Nay?
Service Trips for Your School: Yay or Nay?
Service programs for schools can positively impact a community or organization while also developing student skills like empathy, resilience, leadership, and global citizenship. But not all service projects are created equal. Sometimes they end up being more about the traveler’s idea of service than the community’s needs – and can feel performative. Like many educators, you may be asking: “Should my school do this?”
What Makes a School Service Trip Work (Pun intended!)
The most impactful programs are built on three pillars:
1. Long-term partnerships
Work with host communities and established local partners, not one-off projects that simply “check a box” on an itinerary.
2. Reciprocity
Students should learn with and from local partners, not just “help” in a one-sided way. In fact, your students often gain as much, if not more, from community members and partners as the community gains from them.
3. Integration
Pre-trip preparation, guided reflection, and post-trip follow-up are essential. Even a simple project can be deeply meaningful if students understand its purpose and connect those lessons back to their own communities after returning home.
As one student reflected after a Spain Global Works trip:
“I think I have learned to be more grateful, to take the lessons I learned from community service and being away from home with me, and the relationships and experiences I made will shape me as a person.” – Emily S.
So, Yay or Nay?
The answer is: Yay! — if the program is conducted thoughtfully. A well-crafted service trip can transform students, strengthen your school community, and create meaningful cross-cultural connections.
The answer is: Nay! — if the program is treated as an afterthought. Poorly planned service projects can fall flat, or worse, miss the mark for the very communities they aim to support.
