Chapter 7: Learn, Serve, and Lead: Examining a Model for Strengthening Community Partnerships and Student Leadership Through a Service-Leadership Internship

The Burish Service-Leadership Internship is a selective program at Washington and Lee University which places college student leaders in internship positions in local K–12 schools in rural Rockbridge County, Virginia. These students, who most often minor in Education or Education Policy, become embedded members of the K–12 school community where they assess the needs of the school in order to recruit fellow college students to aid in meeting those needs.

The internship model originated organically from student experiences, growing into a formal program facilitated by the teacher education program and supported by the university work-study office. Simultaneously, Washington and Lee University was developing a new teacher education program that sought to develop student leaders in education and foster collaborative, mutually beneficial partnerships with schools (Lasley et al., 1992). This internship model challenges traditional notions in teacher preparation that the primary role of K–12 schools is to host students for education fieldwork and instead places the university in a partnership role in which college students and the university are providing support and assistance to meet the needs of schools and the students they serve (Zeichner, 2010).