By KENNETH KNIGHT | The Tampa Tribune Published: February 21, 2013 Updated: February 21, 2013 - 3:28 PM

TAMPA PALMS

It is 7:45 a.m. at Freedom High and students in Andrew Tillman's first period class are busy folding paper "Cat in the Hat" head gear for an upcoming reading festival.

The activity may look like fun, but there's a lesson in it.

It demonstrates the students' willingness to perform a seemingly mundane task to help accomplish a bigger goal. In this case, Freedom students are preparing to host second-graders from four area Title 1 schools for the annual I Feel the Need to Read Family Literacy Festival on March 1.

The students in Tillman's class are offered a unique opportunity to learn basic skills and explore ideas on how to successfully conduct community service projects.

"This is the only class like this in the district -- I am pretty sure the state," Tillman said. "We are trying to make this campus more community-service oriented."

It's the second semester Freedom has offered Engaged Citizenship, an elective class for all high school students. The course is designed to appeal to teenagers who are already active in community service or eager to get involved.

Most of the 18 students in the course are members of student service organizations such as Caf Freedom and Key Club.

Alexis Weinberg, a 17-year-old senior, was encouraged by school counselor Amber Wright to sign up for the class.

Excerpt from:

Freedom High class teaches merits of community service