Project-Based Learning: Timmy's Story

Timmy and his father made weekly trips to the local hardware store. From his house to the store, Timmy noticed that certain people stood on the street corners holding signs. The signs read ‘homeless’, and any money given to them would be put to good use. Timmy noticed that from time to time, drivers offered these people money. And from time to time, so did his father.

Timmy’s curiosity got the best of him one Monday morning in class. As a result, he told his teacher about what he saw over the weekend. Briefly, the teacher engaged the class in a conversation about the people they saw standing on the street corners.

A week later, Timmy’s teacher posed the question as part of a project-based learning activity.

Timmy, with the assistance of his teachers, parents, and classmates, got right to work trying to understand the problem of homelessness in his community. After pushing through the probing question and building a plan of action once he completed the inquiry scope for the project, Timmy was ready to explore the issue. He found that homelessness was a problem in many areas of the country (USA), and was a growing concern for residents, business owners, and public officials. By using his favorite online search engine, Timmy found some interesting facts.

People viewed homelessness from different perspectives. Often, community residents simply ignored the problem. Yes, they viewed it as a problem. However, it was often viewed as someone else’s problem that either got ignored or was so overwhelming that the people who could do something often did not know how to approach the problem effectively. For this reason, the problem kept growing and growing.

Then Timmy came across an online news article that discussed a possible real-world solution to the problem. The program was called Built for Zero. The program that supported this movement was gaining ground. And the program was becoming more successful every day. He used this information as a starting point for creating a proposed solution to homelessness in his neighborhood. With support from local community leaders, the proposed solution became a viable solution to the problem.   

Timmy was not sure what he would find, or find out, when he first started researching the topic of homelessness in his community. But when his teacher asked him to reflect upon what he learned, he said he was shocked. First, he talked about the large number of people that were homeless in his neighborhood. The number was much larger than he expected. The people he saw on the street corners represented a small portion of the people he saw in the shelters.

Second, Timmy learned that the homeless were not limited to a specific race, age, or religion. Kids were homeless! He saw teenagers, college students, and those who were disabled. He even recognized an elderly lady that attended his church on Sundays. What he thought about the most, though, was the number of children. He wanted them all to be adopted.

Third, he learned that he could help. He learned that the shelters were run – mostly – by volunteers. With that, he started volunteering at one of the shelters several Saturdays a month. He learned how to keep the shelter clean. Then he learned how to help prepare meals.

His teacher prompted a bit further. She wanted Timmy to think about more than just the facts. What did he learn about himself? Timmy thought for a moment, then said ‘work’. He learned that running a shelter and taking care of other people took work.

He also said he learned about responsibility. When he volunteered his time, his name was written on the schedule. Once on the schedule, the shift manager expected him to show up and be ready to work. At first, Timmy felt weird doing work for someone other than his mom and dad. However, after a few weeks, mostly Saturday mornings, he felt comfortable with his duties and responsibilities. He also said he felt good about the work he did at the shelter.

After learning about the number of homeless people in his neighborhood, Timmy was anxious to solve the problem. With helpful guidance from his teacher, and a high level of support from his parents, Timmy had many thought-provoking conversations with politicians, business owners, and social work and mental health professionals in his area. He learned that the problem was being addressed by these professionals. However, he also learned that there was not enough community awareness and support for this problem. Additionally, he learned that there were too few housing situations that could support the vast number of homeless people in the city. From this information, Timmy devoted his time and energy to raise the money, and community support, to build homes for these individuals and families.

For the final product, Timmy agonized long and hard about how he wanted to present his information to his audience. He wanted to give some sort of speech but felt overwhelmed by the thought of it. However, he felt comfortable at the shelter where he volunteered on Saturdays. Timmy thought the best place to talk about his proposed solution to the problem would be the shelter. To make this happen, he organized a day and time that would allow for most of the industry professionals involved to meet at the shelter during the week. With this done, he prepared a short speech using index cards. He also held on to two documents that he would share with his audience at the appropriate time.

On the day of his speech, Timmy talked only briefly from the make-shift stage at the shelter. He was too excited to read directly from his notes. Nonetheless, he had a good idea of what he wanted to say. Most importantly, he wanted to share the budget report and the legal permission documents that would allow for the building of two new shelters in his neighborhood. 

This is Timmy’s story of how project-based learning turned a young boy, and a community, into a force to be reckoned with!   

Credit for pictures: https://pixabay.com/