The last activity in this unit will draw on everything the students have done so far. Students will develop a sustainable plan for their community in the hypothetical scenario that an influential resource or system leaves their community.

Opening Discussion: Resources That Impact Your Specific Community

(10–15 minutes) 

Begin with a discussion about the ramifications of their community without its most influential resource or system. This will be similar to the discussions that occurred earlier in the unit, but by now the students’ conversations should be more sophisticated since they have been familiarized with the case studies from the documentary, the the two models (Community Capitals and 12-Step Recovery), case studies, and more.

Encourage them to draw on these learned examples and concepts as they determine what they think are some of the most influential resources in their community.

NOTE: Students may disagree on what they consider to be the most influential resource or system in their community. Disagreement is fine, the point of this final exercise isn’t to determine which resource or system is the most influential, but rather to develop a plan to address the leaving of any very influential resource or system.

Group Work: Developing a Sustainable Community Plan

(Remainder of class) 

Students break off into 4 or 5 groups (they can form their own groups or you can designate the groups) and begin creating  a sustainable, community-based plan in the event that an influential resource or system leaves their community. The specifics for what this plan should entail are in a project rubric found in the Teacher Key, which should be distributed to the students before they begin to develop their plans so that they understand what is expected of them.

Below I’ve included a summarized version of what the project should address:

• Resource Identification
  • Identify a vital community resource
  • Explain why that resource is vital to the community 

• Develop a Community Plan. Your plan should discuss…
  • How it addresses / solves issues caused by the resource leaving
  • If it’s a sustainable / long-term solution (and why)
  • How it is based on the concepts learned from classwork (case studies, models, etc.)
•  Presentation & Submission
  • Students will present their plans at the end of their next class via an oral presentation. This should not take much time away from the creation of the plan; it should really just be a simple summary of what they created.
  • Though students will have some class time the next day to work on this, they should continue working on this plan for homework.
  • Students will also submit a written summary of their plan to the teacher after their presentation. As to not take up too much of their in-class plan-development time, this can be completed for homework after the presentation has occurred and submitted the following class.

Students do not need—and indeed, are not encouraged—to emulate any one model or case study to the letter. While these should be influencing the students’ decisions, the students should create their own unique plans.