The Diving Board Effect: How NIST Built a Culture of Service Before Going Even Deeper
Emerging from the shadow of a robust secondary school heritage of service learning, the elementary and middle school educators at NIST International School are exploring and expanding their potential for offering impactful learning experiences.
NIST International School has long been recognized for service learning, but that reputation was built mainly in the secondary school. With student-led service groups and deep community connections, older students carried the torch for explicit service while elementary relied on the PYP's broader concept of action.
"We had the mindset," says Bryony Maxted Miller, PYP coordinator and Vice Principal of Curriculum, who describes herself as a bit of a "NISTorian" after years at the school. "But really that sustained connection with local organisations and having structures to do that was more on the secondary side."
Hannah Chhan, the Elementary Service Learning Coordinator, agrees. "In the elementary school, there was always this idea and appreciation that students were taking action, but it was spontaneous, and often not shared or celebrated. We asked 'what would happen if we decided to teach more explicitly into this idea, while connecting it to the learning happening in their classrooms?'”
A Deliberate Diving Board
The answer was developed through Community Partnership Week, a whole-school initiative connecting elementary students with secondary service groups and community partners through projects tied to units of inquiry. For four years, this concentrated burst of activity served a specific purpose.
"It was never meant to stay a week in duration,” Hannah explains. The team faced early skepticism.
“We heard genuine concerns like, ‘Everyone's doing the same thing at the same time.’ And ‘oh, you're really guiding it. So is that truly student agency?’” Bryony recalls. "We listened and reflected, but in the end decided that we were just going to try it. We needed a way to begin so that our community could have a shared experience with service-learning."
The results speak loudly. The assembly celebrating Community Partnership Week projects has become legendary.
"You'd think it was a pep rally," Bryony says. "It's one of our loudest assemblies when we share the videos of what the kids have done." When asked whether teachers coach students to bring that energy, both educators laugh. "No, not at all," says Bryony.
Hannah offers a simple explanation: "They did it, right? They were a part of all of that. They owned it: the experience, the learning, the impact. They were able to see themselves as changemakers"
From Week to Way of Life: Inspire Citizens Partnership
This year marks Community Partnership Week's final iteration, not because it failed, but because it succeeded. "It was like a diving board into where we really wanted to go," Bryony reflects. "It served its purpose. It's had its time in the sun."
Witnessing the unbridled enthusiasm of young learners celebrating service learning at NIST, “[y]ou’d think it was a pep rally,” says Bryony Maxted Miller, PYP coordinator and Vice Principal of Curriculum,
The school is now embedding service learning throughout the curriculum, with projects happening at different times depending on grade level. Scott Jamieson of Inspire Citizens facilitated planning sessions with each team. "We asked each team, if you could choose any of the units from your year level, would this be the one?" Hannah recalls. "The more we looked at the units, we realized that there were so many opportunities for service-learning connections in the content we are already teaching."
Year Two will tend campus gardens through their Sharing the Planet unit. Year Five will host a sustainability market exploring circular economies through local partnerships. Year One maintains a year-long friendship connection with a local nursery school.
The Value of an Outside Perspective
Working with Scott provided more than planning support. "He started off by doing an audit for our school," Hannah explains. "We're living this every day. Sometimes it's hard to step out and ask, what is really happening here? What are we really missing?"
Bryony emphasizes Scott's contextual knowledge: "He knows PYP schools. He knows busy, big schools. Teachers can envision it because of the knowledge and the wisdom he has from his experience."
Structures, Shifts, and Speed Bumps
The journey required institutional commitment. Creating a dedicated elementary service learning coordinator role was foundational. "That was the first big shift," Bryony says, "giving time, giving a role to service learning outside of just an enthusiast."
Among like minds: Inspire Citizens facilitator and coach Scott Jamieson enjoys supporting students, educators, and school leadership in pursuit of deeper service learning.
A whole-school service-learning team now unites elementary and secondary schools, with shared systems, a jointly articulated curriculum, and a service-learning model accompanied by a toolkit. Hannah and her secondary counterpart Cindy Chen present at conferences together, modelling the unified approach and the importance of a whole-school model to service-learning. They are greatly supported by their Community Partnership Liason, Yui, and their Whole-School Service-Learning Assistant, Miji.
Challenges remain. The secondary service-learning coordinator has just 50% dedicated time; elementary has far less. Hannah acknowledges the deep concerns over time constraints. "It's definitely a speed bump on our road to success, but I am hopeful that due to the impact this learning is having on our community, there will be positive shifts forward."
Yet evidence of impact accumulates. Five elementary service groups now meet at lunchtime, with a substantial waiting list. And secondary staff have noticed something shifting. "So many more students when they get to Year Seven are signing up to join a group or to start a group," Hannah reports. "Before, they were just starting their journey in Year Seven."
The diving board worked. Now the whole school is springing forward into new and exciting service learning territory.