Learners ages 14 and above, including adults returning to learning. Work independently with fictional data; no job, account, outreach, or adult legal authority is required.
Course 95 · Life course 25
Lead a Community Service Project
Plan a small project around a community’s priorities, share responsibilities, and check whether it helps.
Before you start
Use paper or a local document for a six-part project folder; a calculator is optional.
See everything you’ll needWhat you’ll leave with
A small community-service plan with shared responsibilities and a practical way to check whether it helps.
Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.
Your project
Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.
Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.
- Get your materialsDownload the practice worksheetUse the downloadable worksheet or toolkit alongside the lesson instructions.
- Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
- Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Course handbook
Know the route before you begin.
Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.
- Use paper or a local document for a six-part project folder; a calculator is optional.
- Choose the fully supplied fictional scenario, or substitute a low-risk situation without personal or sensitive information.
- Plan about 153 minutes of active reading and practice across six lessons; two lessons each week provides three-week pacing. Optional real-world research can be added after the required practice.
Finish with proof you can use.
A service leadership portfolio containing a community-need brief, shared-role sheet, pilot plan, decision record, evidence note, and reflective handoff.
Save a project record in My ProofSee project checklist and review criteria
Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.
What to include
- A community-need brief with comment counts, a bounded service purpose, an existing asset, and a verification question.
- A shared-leadership sheet with four roles, decision boundaries, participation options, and a decision rule.
- A pilot plan with a $7 sample materials budget, permission limits, access checks, stop rules, and cleanup.
- A check-in agenda and decision note assigning the four-label revision and preserving out-of-scope ideas.
- A service-evidence note with classified counts, limited conclusions, and one user-focused improvement.
- A service leadership portfolio with return-of-findings note, specific reflection, and a documented revision.
Review and revise
Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.
- Community grounding: counts the supplied feedback accurately, preserves an existing asset, and chooses a modest service purpose without claiming representative community consent.
- Shared leadership: gives four roles meaningful outputs and input before decisions, distinguishes host authority, and records a fair decision and handoff process.
- Responsible pilot: reconciles the materials budget, honors tabletop-only permission, and names accessible setup, stop conditions, and cleanup responsibilities.
- Contribution and reflection: separates outputs from outcomes, reports the limited simulated results honestly, and links a specific leadership lesson to a revised host handoff.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas
The rules behind the steps.
Community voice
Use affected people’s priorities and existing strengths to shape a contribution.
Shared leadership
Make roles and participation meaningful before decisions are final.
Honest impact
Separate activity, outputs, feedback, and outcomes while returning useful findings.
What do these words mean?
Key words
Key terms worth knowing.
- Community asset
- An existing skill, place, relationship, or resource that can support community goals.
- Pilot
- A small bounded trial used to learn before broader action.
- Decision right
- Authority to make a particular choice.
- Output
- A thing or activity produced by the team.
- Outcome
- A change experienced by people, requiring evidence beyond production counts.
- Reflection
- Specific examination of what happened, why it mattered, and what to change.
Your route6 lessons.
6 lessons.
One useful project.
Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.
- 1Up next
Choose a need the community has identified
Select a service purpose from supplied community feedback.
- 224 min
Share leadership and decision rights
Assign meaningful roles and a fair decision process.
- 326 min
Plan a responsible small service pilot
Plan a small trial with a clear task, materials, permission, ways people can take part, and reasons to stop.
- 426 min
Facilitate a service team check-in
Practice a check-in that distributes voice and resolves a scope issue.
- 524 min
Measure contribution without overclaiming
Distinguish activity, output, feedback, and outcome in a sample pilot.
- 631 min
Reflect, return findings, and hand off
Assemble a service leadership portfolio and a responsible next-step note.
Use the tools
See all tools Tools to help you practice.
Source transparency
Sources and further study.
Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.
University of Kansas — Conducting Needs Assessment Surveys
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10
Read the sections on defining community needs, choosing participants, interpreting responses, and using results. Page displays CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; no survey or examples are copied.
Access: Public reading verified without an account; optional further reading, no paid course or certificate required.
Reuse: Reference only; original Life Starter explanations and practice. Public access is not permission to copy materials or logos.
University of Kansas — Developing an Action Plan
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10
Read action ownership, timing, resources, communication, and current-plan criteria. Original course scenario emphasizes shared leadership and community accountability rather than reproducing its template.
Access: Public reading verified without an account; optional further reading, no paid course or certificate required.
Reuse: Reference only; original Life Starter explanations and practice. Public access is not permission to copy materials or logos.
University of Kansas — A Framework for Program Evaluation
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10
Read evaluation criteria, evidence, warranted conclusions, and use of findings. The source is background for our fictional service reflection; it does not verify service hours or certify outcomes.
Access: Public reading verified without an account; optional further reading, no paid course or certificate required.
Reuse: Reference only; original Life Starter explanations and practice. Public access is not permission to copy materials or logos.
Ready when you are
Start lesson one Start with the first useful move.
You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.
Open collaboration ideaHelp keep this complete course free.
Potential collaboration: Schools, youth and adult leadership programs, libraries, service-learning educators, and community organizations teaching responsible participation.
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