Nan Peterson Receives National Service Learning Award

Perhaps the only person surprised that Nan Peterson has been named the 2012 Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award winner, is the recipient herself. “I thought they had called the wrong person,” Peterson says of her reaction to receiving the news. “It is with humility, surprise and excitement I am recognized as someone who encourages service at The Blake School and beyond.” But certainly anyone who knows Blake’s PK-12 service learning director, also knows that this selection by the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) is no mistake.

Peterson, whose generosity and kindness is rivaled only by her ability to mobilize and motivate others to serve, is an internationally recognized leader in service learning. As a member of Blake’s Office of Equity and Community Engagement, she develops service opportunities locally and globally for Blake students, staff and families. She speaks at national conferences about developing a culture of service, the connection between service and peace, family service, and interfaith service connections. In addition, Peterson is the first and only senior fellow of the Shinnyo-en Foundation, a role that gave her the opportunity to lead a group of Blake faculty and students to Japan as part of a Peace Through Service trip in July 2010.

The Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award is presented annually to a teacher or community member who has created a living legacy through service-learning practice. The award recognizes practitioners who have equipped young people to lead and serve, both through their direct service-learning instruction with youth and by nurturing other practitioners to expand their service-learning skills and knowledge.

"Nan brings with her the magical qualities of compassion, sensitivity, openness to others and a fierce commitment to social justice," says Scott Flemming, director of Blake's Office of Equity and Community Engagement. "She has the rare ability to listen and to hear what an individual or organization's true needs are and then to build relationships among people and institutions to meet those needs."

The 2012 Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award will be presented at the National Service-Learning Conference and youthrive PeaceJam Leadership Conference in Minneapolis, April 11-14, 2012. As the winning practitioner, Peterson will receive $1,000 to maintain and develop service-learning programs at Blake.