July 21, 2011

Volume 18, No. 29

Circulation: 39,950

National Service Agency Announces 9/11 10th Anniversary Service Challenge

9/11 Day of Service

In two months, the nation will observe the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. We are asking Americans to remember the lives of those lost, pay tribute to those who rose in service, and honor those who serve our country today by engaging in service on the 9/11 weekend. We are calling on organizations of all kinds - nonprofit and national service, community and faith-based, educational and business - to organize or participate in service activities that weekend.

CNCS is launching a 10th Anniversary Challenge that will make up to $500,000 in awards to encourage organizations to expand participation in the 10th anniversary and to fund service activities for future September 11 Days of Service and Remembrance. The aim of this Challenge is to bring Americans together in the same spirit of compassion, unity, and service that existed after the attacks. Visit www.Serve.gov/September11 for details on the Challenge and how to apply.

Also, GenerationOn will distribute $500 mini-grants to school teachers/administrators, out-of-school educators, youth leaders affiliated with a school or organization, and community organizations that work directly with youth to create positive change by utilizing their voices and deeds to promote service in honor of 9/11. The deadline for these grants is this Friday, July 22 - so hurry and submit your application today! http://bit.ly/niJF6I

Connect with YSA

YSA Funding Partners

Corporation for National and Community Service

News From the Field

Save Service in America

August 10 District Day

With so many issues on the table as part of the budget debate, it seems almost overwhelming to imagine your voice being heard in the conversation. Howerver, if we don't educate our representatives on the importance of prioritizing investments in national service, funding will most certainly be eliminated. It's time to rally nationwide, make our voices heard, and fight for national service funding in Congress. Meetings are being planned around the country on August 10th. Search for one near you, sign-up, and get ready. http://bit.ly/oFgG1C

Become a National Service-Learning Conference Affiliate Partner

National Service-Learning Conference 2012: Our World, Our Future affiliates provide crucial, non-monetary support for the conference, ensuring maximum impact of the largest gathering of service-learning practitioners in the world. As an Affiliate, you agree to help get the word out about the conference via your networks, website, e-newsletters, and publications. As an Affiliate, you will be listed on the conference website as well as in the program guide. Download the form at: http://bit.ly/nA9ux3

Buy Young

Last week, OUR TIME convened 150 of America's top young entrepreneurs in Washington, DC to launch a new online marketplace, Buy Young. It was a diverse mix: restaurateurs, fashion designers, butchers, vegan nail polish inventors, and tech gurus, among many others. Our Buy Young partners have created a combined 7,000+ jobs while looking out for OUR TIME's constituency - Americans under 30. They grow fast and hire young. Their companies have social agendas aimed at improving communities. And they are rethinking old business models and changing corporate cultures. Buy Young: http://bit.ly/nKgNRn

Apply to Serve on New 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Advisory Committee

The Department of the Interior announced the establishment of the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps Advisory Committee. The purpose of the Committee is to provide recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior on how to create a 21st Century Conservation Service Corps to engage young Americans in public lands and water restoration. The Department of the Interior is seeking nominations for individuals - both youth and adult - to be considered as Committee members. Deadline for nominations is August 1. Learn more at: http://bit.ly/qrpeBi

Grants & Awards

2012 Global Youth Service Day & Semester of Service Lead Agencies

Deadline Extended: July 22

Lead Agencies convene a planning coalition of at least 10 partner organizations that collectively engage at least 600 youth volunteers in service during Semester of Service and 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, travel support to attend YSA's annual Youth Service Institute, and ongoing training and technical assistance from YSA. www.YSA.org/grants/leadagency

Sodexo Lead Organizer Grants

Deadline Extended: July 22

Sodexo Lead Organizers will work with partner organizations to engage at least 600 youth volunteers in learning about and addressing the issue of childhood hunger in their communities, beginning during Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week (November 14-20) and continuing through Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) (April 20-22, 2012). Sodexo Lead Organizers receive a $2,000 planning grant, travel and lodging for YSA's Youth Service Institute, and ongoing training and technical assistance.

www.YSA.org/grants/sodexoleadorganizer

STEMester of Service YSA Grants

Deadline: August 8

YSA is seeking middle schools with large populations of disadvantaged youth in the 19 states with highest dropout rates (AK, AZ, CA, CO, DE, DC, GA, HI, IL, LA, MI, MT, NV, NM, NY, NC, RI, WA, WY). Grantees will engage students in a STEMester of Service addressing critical environmental and disaster preparedness needs and connecting them to STEM curricula. The $5,000 grant supports sustainable service projects that launch on MLK Day of Service (January 16, 2012) and culminate on GYSD (April 20-22, 2012). www.YSA.org/grants/stemester

Sodexo School Engagement Grants

Deadline: August 15

The Sodexo School Engagement grant program will support teachers and students, grades K-12, in learning about the incidence of childhood hunger in their community, and in leading meaningful activities that facilitate access to nutritious food for all children, especially those most at risk. The program will be implemented through a service-learning "Semester of Service" focused on childhood hunger that launches on MLK Day of Service (January 16, 2012) and culminates on GYSD (April 20-22, 2012).. 11 grantees will receive a $5,000 planning grant. www.YSA.org/grants/sodexoschool

Ashoka's 5th Annual Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur Competition

Deadline: September 9

The Staples YSE Competition is a global competition created by Staples Foundation and Ashoka to recognize exceptional young people who are advancing positive change in their communities and around the world. This year's global competition is open to any youth, ages 12-24, who uses technology to find solutions to society's most pressing challenges. Four winning teams will receive a $500 cash prize and an all expenses paid trip to Techonomy, an elite conference held in Tucson, Arizona that convenes thought leaders, innovators, and changemakers from the technology sector. http://bit.ly/nCjcuU

Sodexo Youth Grants

Deadline: September 16

YSA will award 25 Sodexo Youth Grants of $500 each to support youth-led service projects in the United States that address the issue of childhood hunger during National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week (November 13-20, 2011). We're looking for projects that engage your peers, friends, families, neighbors, Sodexo employees, and other community members in creative, youth-inspired solutions to ending childhood hunger in your community. Learn more at www.YSA.org/grants/sodexoyouth

Everyday Young Heroes

Stephanie Jennis

Montville, NJ

YSA recognizes fifteen year old Stephanie Jennis of Montville, New Jersey, as one of our Everyday Young Heroes for her work to educate her peers about children with special needs and her efforts to expand social inclusion programs at schools throughout New Jersey.

Stephanie has a brother with multiple disabilities and when she was younger, she was teased constantly by her peers and had to listen to them call her brother a "retard." Since Stephanie was 7 years old, she has volunteered about 500 hours a year to Pathways for Exceptional Children, whose mission is to get children in communities and schools to accept and embrace children with special needs. Stephanie has helped this organization create 35 after-school programs for children with special needs and trained 1,300 children in Montville Township as mentors. In 2010 alone, 6,400 program service hours were given to assist 300 children with disabilities and 3,300 community service hours were contributed from over 200 mentors. In addition to her own community, Stephanie has helped 18 different communities to begin these programs and has helped train 9,000 children in the state of New Jersey to become mentors and leaders for inclusion. Her commitment has been so profound that it gained the attention of "Kids Included Together, Inc." and in September 2010, Stephanie traveled to San Diego, California to speak at a national inclusion conference for people with disabilities.

In 2010, as a lead mentor for to Pathways for Exceptional Children she began a movement called "Include ME!" She got a group of 25 students to travel to visit the Commissioner of Education, NJ State Board of Education, and the Special Education Advisory Council. As a result of these efforts, the New Jersey core content curriculum standards now require every school to include disability history and awareness training. Stephanie has succeeded in taking the stigma out of disability and the fear of the unknown often associated with disabilities.

For her continued work to promote diversity and inclusion through the development of school-based mentoring programs, we honor Stephanie as an Everyday Young Hero.

To nominate a young person who has improved their community through service to be recognized as an Everyday Young Hero, please visit www.ysa.org/awards/hero.

Resources & Trainings

NYLC Joins STEM Education Center to Present National Urban Service-Learning Institute - New Dates: August 15-16 in St. Paul, MN

The National Urban Service-Learning Institute, NYLC's annual event designed to explore issues of equity and achievement in urban education, announced that it will be added to the Colloquium on P-12 STEM Education Research. The Colloquium, hosted by the STEM Education Center at the University of Minnesota, will be held on August 15-16, 2011, in St. Paul, Minn. The Colloquium is a forum for professionals researching and teaching P-12 STEM education to come together to share problems and create solutions for STEM. The Urban Service-Learning Institute, presented by NYLC within the event, will guide urban educators on standards-based service-learning for STEM education, integrating STEM with other academic areas, and thinking about service-learning as a pedagogy for increasing educational equity. Learn more at http://bit.ly/nAN7yH

Lessons Learned From Youth-Led Intergenerational Initiatives

The Beth Johnson Foundation has published the results of a program that assessed the practical application of youth-led intergenerational initiatives. The foundation used these results to develop working guidelines for future initiatives. Removing generational misconceptions by connecting younger and older generations to positive effect is an integral part of Big Society thinking. http://bit.ly/n8ud4c

Young Americans E-Book

Across the country, through President Obama's Roundtable Initiative for Young Americans, 384 youth roundtables were held with a wide range of youth in 46 states, DC, and Guam. As the initiative wrapped up at the end of May, President Obama and White House staff began to follow-up, with the launch of "How to Make Change," an ongoing summer program that connects young people to the issues they cared about most during the roundtables. Download the e-book, review the summary, and read feedback that young people gave to the White House at http://1.usa.gov/qajfAb