“Service learning provides youth with skills to promote self-confidence, citizenship, and leadership to deal with these situations,” says Webster. “It helps shape individuals and provides them with opportunities to truly connect with their communities by finding their real needs, asking questions, and interacting with others. These are skills they will need in life.”

Webster’s program and others like it are a response to a much-lamented problem: a lack of civic involvement and local leadership in the United States. In the 19th century, French observer Alexis de Tocqueville cited civic involvement as one of the strengths of America’s democracy, which thrived on voluntary associations, public charity and caring, civic equality, and enterprise. But in 21st century America, voter turnout is chronically low, elected and appointed positions go unfilled in many local governments, and apathy seems to characterize attitudes toward public service and current issues. A recent report by the nonprofit National Conference on Citizenship examining civic life in the United States reinforced numerous earlier studies that showed steep declines in civic participation.

Task forces and programs have been launched to stem the tide. For instance, the National Commission on Civic Renewal was established in 1996 to address widespread concerns about the condition of civic life in the United States. Former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn and former education secretary William Bennett co-chaired a star-studded board, and its final report, released at a nationally televised news conference, carried the telling title, A Nation of Spectators: How Civic Disengagement Weakens America.

In this environment, where will the nation’s future leaders come from? How can communities encourage public service and engage citizens in playing an active role in solving problems and addressing issues? Research and cooperative extension programs in the College of Agricultural Sciences are aimed at answering these questions. Webster believes engagement should begin with young, and often neglected, members of the community. “Many times, inner city kids are forgotten by programs like this,” she says. “The kids are only seen through the lens of problems affecting their community, such as poverty and homelessness. These students have so much to offer but live in a society that often pushes them to the side. I strongly feel that these kids have a sense of wanting to succeed and to help others in the community. With this program, we can give them the skills and opportunity to do it.”

Developmental psychologist Constance Flanagan, whose research focuses on public policy implications of encouraging adult volunteerism among young people, says the old ways of recruiting and rejuvenating leadership in civic groups were simple: Your membership in one organization led to involvement in others. The fact that you were a member of a local church, for instance, assured recruiters that you shared their interests and made it convenient to ask if you would run for the school board or had concerns about water quality. Such conventional indicators as voting patterns and membership in civic associations, Flanagan says, make it clear that civic participation is declining with each generation, and the old recruitment systems aren’t working.