Youth Service America June 17

Looking for a way to increase participation in your programs while connecting with a global youth service movement?



Apply to be a 2011 Global Youth Service Day Lead Agency (Application Deadline: July 15)


Lead Agencies are local, regional, or statewide organizations across the United States, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario, or New Brunswick that increase the scale, visibility, and impact of Global Youth Service Day by leading GYSD in their city, region, or state.

Lead Agencies convene a planning coalition of at least 10 partner organizations that collectively engage at least 600 youth volunteers in service on GYSD, engage local media and elected officials, and plan a high profile signature project or celebration of service.

Lead Agencies receive a $2,000 GYSD planning grant sponsored by State Farm Companies Foundation, travel support to attend the Youth Service Institute, and ongoing training and technical assistance from Youth Service America to ensure a successful Global Youth Service Day.

Past Lead Agencies have leveraged their position as a GYSD Lead Agency to strengthen their programs, form new partnerships, expand their volunteer base, garner media attention, gain support from local public officials, and secure additional funding.

The application deadline is July 15, 2010.

Learn more and access the application at:
www.gysd.org/content/2011GYSDleadagency



SPECIAL FEATURE: YSA QUARTERLY



Don't miss the newest issue of YSA Quarterly, Youth Service America's online magazine with stories, interviews, and highlights of youth engagement opportunities from around the world. The new quarterly is full of incredible stories about how children, teens, and young adults improved their communities.

Stories highlight Get Ur Good On and the teen who won a video contest to volunteer with Miley Cyrus, a preliminary report on Global Youth Service Day 2010, TEDxCapital, the 2010 Harris Wofford Awards, and responses from our "Add Service" campaign.

Read the latest YSA Quarterly here.


NEWS FROM THE FIELD


New Federal 'Volunteering in America' Report Shows Greatest Spike in Volunteers Since 2003
Despite difficult economic times, the number of Americans volunteering in their communities jumped by 1.6 million last year, the largest increase in six years, according to a report released this week by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The Corporation's annual Volunteering in America report found that 63.4 million Americans volunteered through a formal organization last year, giving more than 8.1 billion hours of volunteer service worth an estimated $169 billion. Previous research would suggest that volunteering should drop during an economic downturn, because volunteer rates are higher among job-holders and homeowners. Instead, volunteering increased at the fastest rate in six years, and the volunteer rate went up among all race and ethnic groups. The complete report can be accessed at www.VolunteeringInAmerica.gov




Introducing SparkAction: For children. For Youth. For Change.
Youth Service America is proud to be among the organizations behind a new one-stop site for stories, news and interactive advocacy tools, called SparkAction: for children, for youth, for change. SparkAction.org covers the range of child and youth issues and gives organizations, leaders and young people themselves a place to share their knowledge and ideas, and together raise a stronger voice for change. SparkAction has the latest resources from organizations across the field, as well as feature articles, videos and a high-tech interactive Action Center to help you share knowledge, reach a broad audience, and spark meaningful action. Visit www.SparkAction.org to find and share information and to lend your voice to this growing movement.



Add Service to Your Summer Vacations
The idea of volunteer vacations is not a new one. We've also heard them called "work vacations" or "voluntourism" or even "service-learning travel" - but whatever the name, the concept of building short-term volunteer service into vacation time is one that has kept people interested. Whether your free time is spent in your own town, across the country, or across the sea, a volunteer vacation can be a fulfilling way to improve lives and communities while also allowing you to de-stress, broaden your experience, and leave with a sense of accomplishment. The following resources will help you find a way to serve, learn, and relax all in one trip. Find many voluntourism resources in the June 2010 issue of the National Service Resource Center E-newsletter at: www.nationalserviceresources.org/enewsletters (Click on "Current E-newsletter - June 2010.")


GRANTS & AWARDS

Disney Friends for Change Grants (Deadline: July 15)
Disney's Friends for Change grants encourage kids everywhere to take steps together with their friends to help the planet. YSA will award 75 $500 grants to youth-led service initiatives around the world that demonstrate youth leadership and the commitment to making a positive impact on the environment. Eligible applicants will be asked to implement their projects between September and November and to connect their projects to International Coastal Cleanup Day, National Public Lands Day (both September 25), or other environmentally-focused days of service.. Disney Friends for Change Grants are open to schools, organizations, and individuals planning service projects. Applications submitted by younger children aged 5-14 are especially welcome. The goal of the grant is to inspire children to join their friends and families, schools, and communities to address critical environmental needs as "friends for change" at the local, national, and/or global levels. Grant applications are due Thursday, July 15, 2010. Learn more at: www.ysa.org/grants/announcements/friendsforchange2010



STEMester of Service Grants (Deadline: July 15)

Youth Service America is accepting applications for the second year of STEMester of Service. Funded by Learn and Serve America, a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, STEMester of Service incorporates YSA's semester-long service-learning framework to engage educators and students in addressing critical environmental needs and connecting them to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) curricula. YSA is seeking 10 middle schools with large populations of disadvantaged youth to join 20 returning STEMester of Service grantees. STEM schools must be located in one of the 12 states with highest dropout rates (Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Washington). The $5,000 grant (that includes travel and training at YSA's Youth Service Institute in Detroit in October) supports teachers as they engage local partners and guide students in addressing local needs through planning and implementing sustainable service projects that launch on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service (January 17, 2011) and culminate on Global Youth Service Day (April 15-17, 2011). www.ysa.org/grants/stem





2010 LEGO® Smart™ Creativity Contest (Pre-Registration Deadline: July 30)
LEGO® Education is inviting K-12 teachers and home educators from across the United States to register as contestants for the 2010 LEGO® Smart™ Creativity Contest, challenging classrooms coast to coast to become LEGO Smart! If you are a teacher, home educator, after-school program director, or otherwise working with students (K-12) within the education field, you are eligible to compete in this year's contest. The 2010 contest, including prize information and contest rules, will be emailed to all pre-registered contestants on Monday, August 2, 2010. Register at: www.legoeducation.us/about/item.aspx?art=3465&bhcp=1




For Previously Featured Grants & Awards, visit:
www.servicewire.org/nsb/Grants-and-Awards


PROFILES IN SERVICE
EVERYDAY YOUNG HEROES


Roosevelt High School 2010 Senior Class - Boyle Heights, CA

Youth Service America recognizes 110 seniors from Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, California as Everyday Young Heroes for their creation of a book about their community and the culture that has enriched Boyle Heights.

When the seniors attending the School of Law and Government, a part of Roosevelt High School, were introduced to the book In Our Village: Kambi Ya Simba through the Eyes of Its Youth, something began and something transformative happened. They took a book written by youth across the globe as a model for their own book - about Boyle Heights.

Teacher Steve Mereu explains, "The 100-page book was created by seniors began last November with brainstorming, and by January students had formed 'chapter groups' in their six 12th grade English classes. Six students volunteered to do much of the peer editing. Another six students took responsibility for the book layout." This process kept students involved and engaged. For teacher Jeffrey Matsumura, "The students broke down the walls of the academic classroom and created a new communal one, one in which their lives, their experiences, and their visions became the focus."

Monica Yoo, another teacher saw her "students as creators through this project, knowing that their voices would reach a real, authentic audience. As a teacher, I was challenged and inspired. The drafting and editing process has never been more real in my classroom."

One look at this book and you know immediately that the work was hard, dedicated, and developed the skills and knowledge youth need to move into their communities as participants rather than spectators. Their stories are rich, their insights profound, their care and concern evident. For their creative work and their efforts to highlight their community's history and cultural diversity, we honor these Seniors as Everyday young Heroes.

Preview and purchase the book at: www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1419374


TOOLS, TRAINING, RESOURCES & RESEARCH

You Don't Know Me Until Now: Latino/a Middle School Voices

This 32-page publication presents a selection of poems, essays, and photographs from students at three charter schools: Camino Nuevo Charter Academy in Los Angeles, East Austin College Prep Academy in Austin, and Lighthouse Community Charter School in Oakland. All three are part of the National Council of La Raza school network. The PDF also includes a guide to supporting students' diverse identities through creative writing, produced by WKCD Writing Facilitator Abe Louise Young. www.whatkidscando.org/featurestories/2010/04_you_dont_know_me/index.html





Enriched and Inspired: Service Pathways to College Success
This report describes the students who participated in Project Reach, which worked to introduce, strengthen, or expand programs to provide service-learning and service opportunities for students with disabilities. The strategies used to engage students, particularly those out of the mainstream, are discussed. Students who participated in the program experienced opportunities to learn life skills that would assist them with employment, careers, and personal development, as well as meaningful life changes.

Read the report at: http://servicelearning.org/library/resource/8986




The Art of Demystifying a Millennial Volunteer
On the Social Citizens blog, Kari Dunn Saratovsky writes: "Having already seen and experienced so much, Millennials have established themselves as a new breed of activists and doers - but for the average nonprofit, understanding how to engage them in your volunteer work can be seen as a mystery. The following is an attempt to demystify the Millennial volunteer. I firmly believe that the problems our local and global communities are faced with call for exactly the values that Millenials believe in - collaboration, teamwork, openness and transparency. So , what does your nonprofit need to know about engaging the next generation of volunteers?" Read the rest of the blog at: www.socialcitizens.org/blog/art-demystifying-millennial-volunteer


SERVICE CALENDARS

Conferences & Events


Conference Calendar: www.servicewire.org/conferences

If you'd like your 2010 conference or event to be included, please e-mail the name, date, and location (city, state) of the conference to dmiranda@ysa.org with the subject line "NSB Conference." Include a short blurb/description of the conference and the website you want people to be directed to.



Seasons of Service


June 2010

National Family Month - May 9 - June 20

World Refugee Day - June 20

National Summer Learning Day - June 21



Seasons of Service Calendar: www.servicewire.org/seasonsofservice

If you'd like your annual campaign/awareness event to be included, please e-mail the name, date, and location (city, state) of the event to dmiranda@ysa.org with the subject line "Seasons of Service." Include a short blurb/description of the event and the website you want people to be directed to.



QUOTE OF THE WEEK



"One person can make a difference, and every person should try."
- President John F. Kennedy



Best,