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ATTLEBORO --Second graders at Hyman Fine Elementary School are organizing a food drive to help the needy this fall, while first graders are tuning up their voices to sing for senior citizens at local nursing homes.

Pupils in grade three will start delivering mail between classrooms and fourth graders are on the prowl to increase recycling at school to conserve natural resources.

Activities like lugging the mail and entertaining the older generation are part of the school's new community service initiative, an outgrowth of a program to encourage positive behavior in school.

It's also one of the most ambitious thrusts yet by an area school in attempting to link classroom work with community volunteerism.

"The kids are really excited about it," said Maria Clavin, a member of a faculty committee led by adjustment counselor Michelle Amorim that spearheaded the initiative called Second Step. The school held an assembly Friday to formally kick off the projects.

Children's volunteer efforts won't just benefit the community, Clavin said. A student-run school mail delivery system will encourage pupils to practice their writing and composition skills by sending each other letters. Fourth graders working to maximize recycling will learn valuable, civic-minded lessons about reducing and re-using waste.

While many high schools feature supervised service components that tie directly into curriculum, it's less well-known in elementary schools.

But that may be changing, says Jonathan White, an assistant professor at Bridgewater State College and a board member of Free The Children, an international organization that seeks to empower students.

"For children to learn skills that help them become a part of their community, to be citizens, is as important as learning about good nutrition or good writing and spelling habits," said White, who edited the book "Me to We" on the subject.

Beyond that, White said, lessons learned by young children about citizenship and responsibility are often potent ones.

"Research has shown that when kids as young as 5 or 6 who are exposed to a structured program with role models, those lessons are likely to stick with them and help them become more active citizens," he said.

About 24 percent of America's schools have community service programs that formally link classroom practice with service to others, said Amy Cohen, director of Learn and Serve America, a group that promotes community service learning.

Many more hold periodic can drives or host student organizations involved in volunteering.

Attleboro High School has allowed students over the past decade to earn course credit for projects that range from raking leaves for elderly homeowners to tutoring young people and volunteering at government and non-profit agencies. Participants must meet regularly with a faculty advisor and submit reports on their service, called "reflections."

Principal Jeff Newman sees a relationship between students' service and academic achievement.

"It helps students appreciate how the things they learn in the classroom apply in the real world," said Newman, who added that community service builds responsibility and character.

While Attleboro High is one of the few schools locally with a formal program, other school districts also see value in the concept.

Norton Superintendent Patricia Ansay says the school administration is actively researching the concept and believes participation in community service should be a graduation requirement.

North Attleboro is also looking at a community service learning program for the future, high school Principal Robert Gay said.

While many school districts have yet to adopt formal service learning programs, area schools are filled with examples of students and teachers reaching out into the community - occasionally with startling results.

Some years ago Mansfield's Jordan Jackson Elementary School created a Jeopardy-like game in which teams of pupils volunteered to raise pledges and compete against each other in a contest answering questions on spelling, science and geography. Proceeds, which ran into tens of thousands of dollars over several years, were donated to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Mansfield High students are part of a program called Project Teammate in which students act as companions and mentors to disabled peers.

Bishop Feehan High School students have become well known for their holiday food and clothing drives, as well as tutoring local middle school students and volunteering to serve holiday meals to the needy.

City high school students, in sympathy with the plight of the homeless, organized a popular "homeless for a night" campaign and spent a winter evening outdoors collecting donated clothing and food items.

At Foxboro High School, members of the National Honor Society are taking their concern for others national by raising funds for a trip to the Gulf Coast next February to aid hurricane relief.

Many area high schools host local chapters of academic and service organizations, such as the National Honor Society and the Leo Club, whose members regularly participate in volunteer service.

Cohen, with Learn and Serve America, applauds the Fine School program and says she sees no reason to assume that grade school children are too young to benefit from such work.

Cohen cited an example of a program often referenced by U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a proponent of service education, concerning 4- and 5-year-olds who helped by folding cloth napkins for a senior citizens' lunch program.

"Of course, they helped do something nice for seniors," Cohen said. "But they also learned how a square could be turned into a triangle and a triangle back into a square. They were getting their first lesson in geometry."