Tulare County

Garden Clubs
One service learning activity that students in the Tulare area participate in is California Garden Clubs. When involved in Garden Clubs, students help to beautify their community by planting gardens and also to protect the environment by nurturing existing gardens. California Garden Clubs promote the conservation of natural resources and environmental awareness. Members have planted millions of trees, protected hundreds of acres and spread wildflower seeds along miles of highway and open space. They sponsor courses in horticulture, environmental awareness, and safe and efficient gardening. They support public gardens and parks and help to protect them. If you have interest in the environment, Garden Clubs are an excellent way to help beautify your community.
For more information about California Garden Clubs, please click here.

Character Counts!
Tulare also participates in the Character Counts! program. Character Counts! is a nonprofit organization which uses a framework based on basic values, which they call the Six Pillars of Character. These pillars are: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. Millions of schools and communities also use the Character Counts! program to enhance their curriculums in a positive way. Character Counts! has been proven to reduce behavioral incidents by 60% as well as to reduce negative behavior in schools by 47%.
For more information about Character Counts! programs, please click here.

Gang Activity Awareness
Tulare has a Gang Activity Awareness program which gives five $5,000 grants to support youth-directed programs and service-learning projects that address gang activity and youth at risk of joining a gang. Some of the institutions that have received this grant in the past have used the money to create summits, mini-workshops, leadership programs, mural-painting activities, and more. In the mini-workshops, students worked on improving their self-esteem, decision-making skills, stress management, and skills for communicating more effectively with others. One school visited the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles to better understand the consequences of violence and to develop an appreciation for conflict resolution.
For more information about past recipients of this grant, please click here.

Cultural Awareness
The Tulare area also has a program in which service-learning students have cultural conversations with community leaders, in order to learn more about different cultures.