Young children can make real-life connections to the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship through Service Learning, a teaching pedagogy and philosophy that addresses real community needs while fulfilling academic goals that meet specific national and state curricula and standards. Authentic and effective service learning projects offer students opportunities to engage in meaningful and real-life cooperative problem-solving experiences so that they develop the skills related to teamwork, community involvement, and citizenship. Service learning projects encourage young people to challenge existing values while supporting cognitive and social learning and development. In addition, elementary students who engage in high-quality service-learning show an increased awareness of their community needs and develop a greater sense of civic responsibility and ethic of service. In this article, the authors explore civic practices and service learning through a school-wide recycling project. The project was designed and implemented through the efforts of a student intern, a university faculty member, and two classroom teachers. The semester-long venture fostered cooperation between the principal, a local recycling center, and many children within the school community, as it fulfilled both community needs and academic goals. (Contains 4 notes.)