Part of an effort to implement the 15-year old Building Our American Communities Program in secondary schools, this student handbook provides detailed information for designing, implementing, and evaluating community development projects. Each chapter presents introductory and background information, student objectives, related activities, and review questions. The topics addressed in each chapter are: "Understanding the Community,""Relating Vocational Agriculture and the Community,""Identifying Community Needs,""Identifying Potential Projects,""Deciding on the Project,""Getting Ready for Action,""Making Things Happen," and "Learning from What We Did." Suggested activities include mapping community facilities and service areas, identifying activities related to community development, determining what residents think about the community, creating a project performance checklist, making project committee assignments, and conducting a project evaluation meeting. (NEC)