Service learning is a teaching tool in which students apply classroom skills to solve real problems in their communities. Community service becomes service learning when it is connected to classroom learning and contains opportunities for students to reflect upon their experiences. In addition to enhancing learning through experience, service learning programs offer rural schools and communities an opportunity to develop new and positive connections. Profiles of service learning programs in schools and colleges illustrate the benefits that service learning provides students and communities. K-12 service learning programs in Arkansas, West Virginia, and Alabama involve youth in decision making and staff development training, leading to a sense of ownership and empowerment; allow blind and deaf students to shift roles from passive recipient to active provider of services; and link school reform to community development as student activities focus on community study, support community viability, and celebrate rural life. Service learning programs at colleges and universities include an early intervention, mentoring program that pairs college students with elementary students having similar special talents and interests; programs that promote a sense of citizenship through community development activities and foster compassion through interpersonal relationships with young children, the elderly, and diverse populations; and international exchange programs in rural communities abroad. A list of additional information sources contains 42 references, 3 Internet resources, and 13 organizations. (SV)