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Dr. Wangari Maathai--"environmentalist, human rights advocate, global peace worker, and community builder"--passed away in 2011. The first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Maathai left a legacy even greater than the 47 million trees that her organization, the Greenbelt Movement, has planted across Kenya since 1977. As the Nobel Prize committee lauded in 2004, "She has taken a holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights and women's rights in particular. She thinks globally and acts locally." Like Dr. Maathai, Iowa teacher Jessica Staudt seeks to encourage global thinking and local action in her fourth-grade classroom. To honor and share Dr. Maathai's legacy, Jessica developed a service-learning project that integrates critical literacy and social studies themes to promote an active, global vision of citizenship. Service learning, an educational strategy that purposefully connects academic curriculum with community service and student reflection, is an apt vehicle to encourage global thinking and empower students to take action. Dr. Maathai serves as a fitting and unique role model for a service-learning project, providing a compelling example of global citizenship at work. (Contains 5 online resources and 8 notes.)

an: EJ1002603; source: Social Studies and the Young Learner; docTypes: Journal Articles ; Reports - Descriptive; pubTypes: Academic JournalReport;