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January 5, 2012
Volume 19, No. 1
Circulation: 39,950
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Make a New Year's resolution to Help End Childhood Hunger
In Your Community
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 YSA will award 100 Sodexo Youth Grants of $500 each to support youth-led service projects in the United States that address the issue of childhood hunger on Global Youth Service Day (April 20-22, 2012).
16.2 million children (1 out of every 5 children) in the United States live at risk of hunger. YSA and Sodexo are calling on young people, ages 5-25, to help make sure your peers don't have to worry about where their next meal will come from.
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.
Applications are due by midnight on January 17, 2012.
Learn more at: www.YSA.org/grants/sodexoyouth
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Connect with YSA
  
YSA Funding Partners
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News From the Field: Special MLK Day Edition
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January is National Mentoring Month
10 things you can do this month:
1. Become a mentor in your community.
2. Learn more about mentoring.
3. Partner with a mentoring organization.
4. Join "I Am a Mentor" Day.
5. Think about the mentors in your life and post a tribute to them online.
6. Read the latest research and find resources on mentoring.
7. Serve your community on MLK Day of Service by deciding to become a mentor.
8. Make a donation to a mentoring organization in your community.
9. Go to YouTube on Thank Your Mentor Day™ (January 26) and make the National Mentoring Month videos the most popular of the day.
10. Explore ways to help children succeed academically through mentoring.
Learn more at http://bit.ly/zLSDTf
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MLK Day of Service - January 16
Find or register your MLK Day service project at www.MLKDay.gov Also, watch the CNCS MLK Day Legacy of Service videos featuring civil rights luminaries Congressman John Lewis, Ruby Bridges, Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, and former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford remembering Dr. King and his legacy of service. www.MLKDay.gov
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Help Restore Economic Opportunity in America Through Service
In honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, Opportunity Nation and ServiceNation have partnered to highlight ways to increase economic opportunities through service in your local community. Between New Years' Day and MLK Day, they will share concrete strategies to serve. These strategies will be aligned with the recently released Opportunity Index, a new tool to measure opportunity in communities. Dr. King worked for increased opportunity for all Americans. Now, more than ever, we need to work to create and support opportunities for Americans to strengthen their economic security. http://bit.ly/zeVEkA
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New 26 Seconds BMOR TV PSA Featuring LeBrong James Premieres
YSA, State Farm and LeBron James want to help kids be more (BMOR) than a statistic and graduate high school. Go to www.facebook.com/26seconds to get involved. Check out the new "Wake Up" PSA supporting the 26 Seconds campaign. There's also a behind-the-scenes video of the making of "Wake Up" with interviews, filming effects and a deeper look at the cause and its meaning to State Farm, LeBron James and YSA. You can help spread the message by sharing this video: http://youtu.be/3UNK2ItwweQ
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Grants & Awards
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C-SPAN StudentCam 2012 Contest
Deadline: January 20
C-SPAN's StudentCam is an annual national video documentary competition that encourages students to think seriously about issues that affect our communities and our nation. Students are asked to create a short (5-8 minute) video documentary on a topic related to the competition theme - "The Constitution and You." The competition is open to all students in grades 6-12. Students may compete individually or in teams of up to 3 members. All documentaries must contain C-SPAN footage and be between 5-8 minutes in length.75 student prizes and 11 teacher prizes ranging from $250 to $5,000 will be awarded. Learn more at http://cs.pn/wo6O3b
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Deadline: January 31
YSA is launching the inaugural YSA List of "The 25 Most Powerful and Influential Young People" in celebration of our 25th Anniversary. The YSA List will recognize 25 young people (ages 5 - 25) around the world that have made significant, large-scale change in Health, Education, Human Service, Human Rights, and the Environment. We will announce the YSA List on Global Youth Service Day 2012 (April 20-22). The 25 winners will receive $1,000 awards to support their ongoing efforts to change the world. Learn more and nominate a young person at www.YSA.org/25/list
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Generations United Best Intergenerational Communities Awards
Deadline: January 31
Generations United and MetLife Foundation will recognize up to 5 communities with the first-ever Best Intergenerational Communities Awards. They are looking for communities that honor every generation and ensure - through policies, programs, and services - that they acknowledge and serve all ages. The winning communities' awards will include: a public recognition event in Washington, DC, national and local media exposure, a profile on Generations United's website and social media outlets, and recognition at the 2013 Generations United International Conference. http://bit.ly/ymxygx
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Disney Friends for Change Grants
Deadline: February 29
Disney Friends for Change Grants offer young change-makers an opportunity to receive a $1,000 grant to help make a lasting, positive change in the world. Whether you are passionate about protecting the planet, providing meals to those who need it or giving kids just like you the resources they need to star in their own play, be an athlete or an artist, you can be a Friend for Change! Whatever your interests, a Disney Friends for Change Grant can help you make a difference for people, communities and the planet. Youth ages 5-18 located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are eligible to apply for a $1,000 grant. www.YSA.org/grants/disney-friends-change-grants
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Everyday Young Heroes
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Dauntea Sledge
Columbus, OH
YSA recognizes 24 year old Dauntea Sledge of Columbus, Ohio as one of our Everyday Young Heroes for his work to assist foster care teens as they prepare for adulthood and life outside of the foster care system. Dauntea is dedicated to assisting foster care teens as they prepare for and navigate through their journey into adulthood, often lacking adult support. As a former foster youth himself, this is a very personal issue to him. Because of Dauntea's advocacy, a growing number of young people throughout the state of Ohio are being better prepared for their transition to adulthood, and the adults in their lives are more aware of their role in helping to meet this need. Dauntea is dedicated to continuing this work, and to share every opportunity that he has been given with others. Dauntea attended the Bridges Out of Poverty and Getting Ahead programs and currently assists facilitators in leading workshops that support the Bridges Out of Poverty Initiative. He plans to recruit emancipated foster youth to attend trainings and become future trainers as well. He also presents monthly trainings at a local group home, Village Network Columbus, in order to educate foster care youth/alumni about available resources (housing, employment, higher education), and encourage them to develop peer support networks. Dauntea currently serves as President of the Franklin County Youth Advisory Board, and Media Spokesperson of the Ohio Youth Advisory Board. He is an active member of the Ohio chapter of Foster Care Alumni of America. Dauntea also served a year as a member of AmeriCorps Vista, working for Community Properties of Ohio, working with people in poverty and broken homes. For his dedication to engaging and mentoring young people in the foster care system, we honor Dauntea 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. |
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Resources & Trainings
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NYLC Webinar - Tough Minds and Tender Hearts: Reflection to Support Service-Learning
January 12, 2012 at 4pm Central
In the Spring of 2011, Jane Hammatt Kavaloski and Vincent Kavaloski wrote Tough Minds and Tender Hearts: Building Martin Luther King's "Beloved Community" Through Service-Learning, a reflection journal for educators and students. In honor of Dr. King's birthday, this webinar bring two complementary worlds together: King's teachings and service-learning through the power of reflection. Explore Dr. Martin Luther King's teachings and service-learning through the power of reflection. http://ny.lc/tvyDWC
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"The Spirit of Service" MLK Day Lesson Plans
Scholastic and the Corporation for National and Community Service are offering free curriculum to help students in grades 3-5 learn about Dr. King's legacy of service. Lessons include "Words in Service" for language arts classes to explore how words can inspire, teach, and change the world; "Service Pioneers" for social studies classes to discuss interviews with civil rights leaders; and "Healthy Futures" for science classes to use analysis skills to find out your state's service health. Download the lesson plans at http://bit.ly/xmo8CL
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MLK Day Webinar: Final Preparations
Wednesday, January 11 at 3pm Eastern
The last MLK Day 2012 webinar, Final Preparations, will be held January 11, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. EST. The webinar will cover:
* Final Week Project Planning Tips
* Final Week and Day of Media Relations
* Contingency Planning
* Resources to Assist you in Implementation of your MLK Day of Service project
Register for this webinar and view all the archived MLK Day 2012 webinars at http://1.usa.gov/qH6axE
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WKCD: Occupy Movement: Hands-on Civics Lessons for High School Students
Across the country, in big cities and towns, high school students have been collecting their thoughts about the Occupy Movement, visiting Occupy encampments, and broadcasting what they see and hear. WKCD offers a sample of news stories that chronicle this engagement. Many are the work of high school journalists, writing for their school paper. "It fits in with everything we are doing," said Rebecca Williams, an English literature teacher at Cleveland High School in Los Angeles. "It's a real-life movement-history in the making." http://bit.ly/zI9muO
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Service Calendars
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Conferences & Events
National Youth Service Summit March 30 - April 1, 2012 - Cincinnati, OH National AfterSchool Association Conference
April 2-4, 2012 - Dallas, TX National Service-Learning Conference April 11-14, 2012 - Minneapolis, MN Best Of Out-of-School Time Conference April 25-28, 2012 - Palm Springs, CA National Conference on Volunteering & Service June 18-20, 2012 - Chicago, IL |
Seasons of Service
January 2012
National Mentoring Month - January
MLK Day of Service - January 16
Semester of Service - MLK Day to GYSD
No Name Calling Week - January 23-27
February 2012
African American History Month - February
Souper Bowl of Caring - February 5
National Green Week - February 6 to April 22
Random Acts of Kindness Week - February 13-19
International Mother Language Day - February 21
National Eating Disorders Awareness Week -
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Song of the Week
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Goo Goo Dolls - "Better Days"
"And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
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And it's someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And that's faith and trust and peace while we're alive
And the one poor child that saved this world
And there's 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them."
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The Editors
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 Mike Minks Director of Outreach
and Innovation
Editor-in-Chief @michaelminks |  Danielle Miranda Manager of Outreach
Associate Editor |  Mike Man Manager of Outreach
Associate Editor |
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