September 1, 2011

Volume 18, No. 35

Circulation: 39,950

Youth Service Institute To Convene Leaders in Youth Engagement Field

YSA (Youth Service America) will convene the 8th annual Youth Service Institute in Philadelphia, PA on October 24-26, 2011.

As YSA's signature training event, the Youth Service Institute is an opportunity for YSA's grantees, partners, and all those who engage youth in service, to come together for three days to be inspired, network with others in the youth engagement field, share best practices and great ideas, learn how to implement high quality service and service-learning programs, and prepare for Semester of Service and Global Youth Service Day. This year's YSI will also kick-off a year of celebrating YSA's 25th anniversary.

Join over 200 participants - including representatives of our 100 Global Youth Service Day Lead Agencies, over 75 educators leading Semester of Service programs in their schools, Cities of Service Chief Service Officers, and YSA's Youth Council - for a series of interactive workshops, off-site service projects, thought-provoking plenary sessions, facilitated networking opportunities, and inspirational remarks from leaders in the field.

All participants will learn about Global Youth Service Day and Semester of Service, the IPARD/C service-learning process, and how to achieve significant impact on youth outcomes and on community outcomes through youth engagement.

There are two registration options for YSI:

Anyone can register to attend YSI for all 3 days for $250.
People in the Philadelphia area - as well as Pennsylvania and all neighboring states - can participate in the one-day Local Track on Tuesday, October 25 from 9am - 5pm. Participants will join all workshop sessions offered on Tuesday as well as a locals-only lunch. This one-day registration is only $50.

Learn more and register at www.YSA.org/institute

Connect with YSA

YSA Funding Partners

Corporation for National and Community Service

News From the Field

Volunteer on National Public Lands Day - September 24

Join the National Environmental Education Foundation for National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 24th. This event is the nation's largest, single day volunteer effort for public lands. You and youth you work with can volunteer to help preserve our nation's parks. NPLD began in 1994 with three sites and 700 volunteers. Last year, 170,000 volunteers worked at over 2,080 sites in every state. National Public Lands Day has sites across the country. The website has a map and zip code finder to help you find one nearest you. http://bit.ly/nCGcHj

September is Hunger Action Month

Learn more at: http://bit.ly/pSFIFk

Hunger Action Month is the perfect time to apply for one of YSA's Sodexo Youth Grants to support a childhood hunger service project.

Be a Part of Worldwide Day of Play - September 24

On Worldwide Day of Play, Nickelodeon goes completely dark all afternoon which means there are no shows on Nick. Encourage your kids to turn off the TV, get up, get out and go play. This is also an opportunity to bring your family and friends together to host a Worldwide Day of Play celebration in your community. The event can be big, small, an hour long, or all day. All that matters is that you have fun and play. Be sure to register your event on the Worldwide Day of Play website site and it could be mentioned on Nick. For more information about how to plan a Worldwide Day of Play event, download the playbook and other resources at: http://bit.ly/qRrJob
Learn more and register your event at http://bit.ly/pXnMrW

Lights On Afterschool - October 20

The 12th annual Lights On Afterschool is October 20, 2011. Join 1 million Americans and 7,500+ communities nationwide in celebrating the afterschool programs that keep our kids safe, inspire them to learn and help working families. Win up to $5,000 in the Light Up a Landmark for Lights On Afterschool Contest! We've seen the Empire State Building, LA's Lindbergh Beacon and Mt Rushmore lit up for Lights On Afterschool. What are you planning to shine a spotlight on the importance of afterschool in your community? Eleven (11) sites will be selected nationwide to receive awards from longtime afterschool champion jcpenney, including one $5,000 Megawatt award and ten $1,000 Spotlight awards. http://bit.ly/r2kP2n

Grants & Awards

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

UnitedHealth HEROES Grants

Deadline: October 17

The UnitedHealth HEROES program is a service-learning, health literacy initiative that awards grants to help youth, ages 5-25, create and implement local, hands-on programs to fight childhood obesity. The grants encourage semester-long projects that launch on MLK Day of Service and culminate on Global Youth Service Day. Schools, service-learning coordinators, non-profits, and students in the health professions located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are eligible to apply for the $500 - $1,000 grants. Learn more at www.YSA.org/HEROES

NYLC Youth Leadership for Service-Learning Excellence Award

Deadline: October 21

This award recognizes K-12 service-learning programs and projects that demonstrate outstanding youth leadership. The award focuses on projects that uniquely demonstrate youth leadership for service-learning excellence - incorporating key elements of high-quality service-learning and having a sustainable impact on the participants and the broader community. One winner will be selected to receive this award at the National Service-Learning Conference in Minneapolis, MN., April 11-14, 2012. The winner will receive $1,000 to support the program, along with travel, lodging, and registration for the conference for two youth participants and one adult leader. http://bit.ly/n9fvNY

NYLC Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award

Deadline: October 21

This award recognizes practitioners who have equipped young people to lead and serve, both through their direct service-learning instruction with youth and by nurturing other practitioners to expand their service-learning skills and knowledge. Each year, this award is presented to a teacher who has created a living legacy through service-learning practice. One winner will be selected. This award will be presented at the National Service-Learning Conference in Minneapolis, Minn., April 11-14, 2012. The selected practitioner will receive $1,000 to maintain and develop service-learning programs in his or her organization or school, along with travel, lodging, and registration for the conference. http://bit.ly/p5w9cX

Everyday Young Heroes

Virginia Newsome

Lexington, KY

YSA recognizes fifteen year old Virginia Newsome of Lexington, Kentucky, as one of our Everyday Young Heroes for her work to ensure that children in her community have access to quality arts education.

Virginia started her own non-profit group called heARTs, with the mission of bringing arts programs back into schools in her community after local schools, including her own Magnet School for the Arts, experienced budget cuts to the art departments. heARTs provides schools with in-school and after school arts programming through a volunteer placement program, provides schools with donated arts supplies, and advocates for arts education through outreach to policy makers. Virginia recruited a friend who is an artist to design a logo for her, drafted a business plan, created her own Facebook page, and applied for 501(c)3 status. Virginia uses her Facebook page as her primary vehicle for collecting donations and receiving requests for school supplies from schools facing cuts in their arts programs. She has already received requests from local schools, as well as schools as far away as Hawaii and Africa. She is excited about helping schools all over the world, wherever there is a need and is working on expanding her project to meet the growing demand. Virginia also manages volunteer recruitment and has mobilized local artists and authors to volunteer their time to work with children in schools with reduced arts funding.

Virginia hopes that the children who are the recipients of the donations and classes will benefit from learning about the visual and performing arts. Inspiring their creativity will hopefully help them become creative problem solvers and expressive individuals no matter what career path they follow in life. For her work to save arts education and inspire creativity in others, we honor Virginia 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

YSA Blog Back to School Series

As students and teachers head back to school, YSA is highlighting education and service in our Back to School Education blog series. Read blog posts from students, educators, and service-learning experts about their experiences with education and service. Posts include:

Impact Global Hunger from Your Classroom
An Educational Food Drive
Educating Millennials Outside of the Classroom
H2O for Life
Financial Literacy: A Foreign Language
Foster 21st Century Learning
Integrating College and Community

Read the blog series and get ideas for your own classroom or afterschool program at www.YSA.org/blog

Service as a Strategy Blueprint: Sustainable Home Makeover

Sustainable Home Makeover is a high-impact service strategy in which the mayor's office engages volunteers to help homeowners assess their home's energy efficiency and perform simple renovations to improve it. These low-cost improvements reduce the energy consumption of individual homes and save residents money while helping to reduce the city's carbon footprint. http://bit.ly/nK7KEK

Service as a Strategy is designed to help mayors identify and implement high-impact service strategies that address pressing local challenges in education and youth, health, neighborhood revitalization, preparedness and safety, sustainability, and veterans reintegration. http://bit.ly/qA4Efv

Service as a Strategy Blueprint: Prepared is Protected

Prepared is Protected is a high-impact service strategy in which the mayor's office mobilizes knowledgeable volunteers to bolster the disaster awareness and preparedness of households in their communities. When citizens are aware of what they need to do to prepare for a crisis and take necessary precautions, communities are better equipped to deal with the effects of a natural disaster or emergency. http://bit.ly/qt9B2M

We encourage you to engage your mayor's office to support the implementation of these high-impact service strategies or invite them to become a City of Service today. http://bit.ly/r33V2r