Walk For Water On GYSD!

Today, March 22 was World Water Day. Water is one of the defining issues of the 21st century, and will be one of the many critical environmental issues that young people around the world will tackle on Global Youth Service Day. (Last year, one of our favorite GYSD projects was "Water Drops: Message to Humanity."
5-8 year olds in Turkey organized a flash mob / street theater performance dressed up as raindrops to educate passers-by about water scarcity issues. Picture upper right. Video at link above.)   

H2O for Life and YSA are asking youth of all ages to organize "Walks for Water" across the nation on GYSD to support water, sanitation and hygiene education for schools in developing countries. Schools, youth groups, faith based groups and individuals are welcome to organize a 5K walk for water, raise funds for a school in need, and donate the funds to H2O for Life to support WASH in Schools projects around the world. Start planning your walk at: http://bit.ly/GYSDWalkforWater  

This year, Earth Day and GYSD are the same weekend, creating a perfect opportunity for environmental service projects. Get environmental service project ideas from YSA's National & Global Partners on the GYSD.org Project Ideas page, YSA's "55 Environmental Service-Learning Projects" resource, or the EDN Educators' Network. 

YSA is also supporting environmental service projects in Latin America with the Disney Friends for Change - Latin America Grants. Youth in Latin America can apply for $1,000 grants through GYSD (April 22). More information below. 

In the U.S., Global Youth Service Day also coincides with National Environmental Education Week, National Park Week, and the Great American Clean Up - all great opportunities to make your impact on the environment. 

Planning a GYSD and/or Earth Day service project? Tell us about it at www.GYSD.org/register today. 

Connect with YSA

YSA Funding Partners

Global Youth Service Day - April 20-22, 2012

"Serve and Celebrate" for GYSD at the National Service-Learning Conference  

Register for the National Service-Learning Conference on April 11-14 in Minneapolis today, and sign up to join your fellow conference participants as we work side-by-side with community members on peace-building projects in the St. Paul community with youthrive, a GYSD Lead Agency. Then, come celebrate Global Youth Service Day at the Mall of America with the Minnesota Alliance With Youth, a GYSD Lead Agency!  In the Best Buy Rotunda you will find: on-site service-learning projects, live entertainment, youth performances, prizes, and much more! No additional fees apply for the service projects or celebration. Late Conference Registration has been extended to April 1st. www.nslc.nylc.org

  

News From the Field

March 23 is Democracy Day

The 2nd annual Democracy Day is on March 23rd - the anniversary of 18 year olds winning the right to vote - and Rock the Vote is asking teachers across the country to teach Democracy Class, educating and registering students to participate in our country's democracy. The celebration launches on Friday and will kick off 100 Days of Democracy. Thousands of teachers have signed up nationwide; it's not too late - sign up at: http://bit.ly/GGUVCL   

MTV Voices and girltank Launch 10,000 Names in 100 Days Campaign

In partnership with MTV Voices, girltank has launched a worldwide search to find 10,000 young women who are designing powerful ideas and spearheading bold efforts to solve important challenges in their communities. The goalof #10000names is to share these girls' stories, to illustrate how brilliantly and creatively young women are driving social change all across the globe. If you know an inspiring young woman, or you are one yourself, please nominate her: http://on.fb.me/GQMemR   

New FEMA-AmeriCorps Partnership Strengthens Response, Recovery Efforts Following Disasters

This week, FEMA and CNCS announced an innovative new partnership designed to continue to strengthen the nation's ability to respond to and recover from disasters while expanding career opportunities for young people. FEMA Corps is a historic collaboration which will create a new unit of AmeriCorps' National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) whose members will be devoted solely to FEMA disaster response, and recovery efforts. The five-year agreement provides for a full service corps of 1,600 members annually. Once trained by FEMA and CNCS, members will provide support in areas ranging from working directly with disaster survivors to supporting disaster recovering centers to sharing valuable disaster preparedness and mitigation information with the public. The first members will begin serving in August 2012 and the program will reach full capacity within 18 months. Learn more: http://bit.ly/GOQXoF   

National Conference on Volunteering and Service: Turning Point 2012

Join Points of Light on June 18-20 in Chicago, IL.  

Grants & Awards 

Disney Friends for Change - Latin America Grants

Deadline: April 22

Disney Friends for Change - Latin America Grants offer young change-makers an opportunity to receive a $1,000 grant for a youth-led service project that demonstrates youth leadership, creativity, and the commitment to making a positive impact on the environment. Youth ages 5-18 located in Latin America are eligible to apply for a $1,000 grant. http://bit.ly/wYeWdb   

Green Your School Challenge

Deadline: April 22

Do Something and HP are two $5,000 prizes to K-12 schools that reduce their carbon footprint. In addition, five $1,000 prizes will be awarded to the schools with the most participants. Those who sign up and refer 5 friends will also have the chance to win a $500 scholarship. Eligible schools must make efforts to reduce their environmental impact during an 8-week competition. Winners will be chosen based on their school's energy saved, garbage reduced, number of people involved, and innovative quality of actions and ideas. http://dsorg.us/gB5fWR   

State Farm Youth Advisory Board Grants

Deadline: May 4

The State Farm Youth Advisory Board is currently accepting applications for service-learning projects between $25,000 and $100,000 that are designed to create sustainable change in local communities across the United States and Canada.  Applying organizations must be a public K-12, charter, or higher education institution; non-profit organizations are also eligible if they are able to demonstrate how they plan to impact student achievement within the public K-12 curriculum.  Projects must address the root cause of the following issue areas: Access to Higher Education / Closing the Achievement Gap; Financial Literacy; Community Safety and Natural Disaster Preparedness; Social Health & Wellness Issues; and Environmental Responsibility. http://bit.ly/yMI7gZ

  

Special Olympics Project Unify Grants

Deadline: Rolling through May 31

The goal of Project UNIFY is to activate youth around the country to develop school communities where all young people are agents of change - fostering respect, dignity, and advocacy with and for people with intellectual disabilities by utilizing the programs and initiatives of Special Olympics. To be eligible, you must be between the ages of 12 to 20, or a current undergraduate student in college. A Special Olympics North America program is required to be your main partner organization. Projects must demonstrate the core essence of service-learning. Budgets for projects can range from $100 to $5,000.  http://bit.ly/wQUgJV

     

Resources & Trainings

Building a Grad Nation 2012 Report

The 2012 report update of Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic, released March 19 by the Alliance for Excellent Education, America's Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises, and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, shows that the nation continues to make progress, with more than half of states increasing graduation rates. The report also reveals that the number of "dropout factory" high schools - those graduating 60 percent or fewer students on time - decreased by 457 between 2002 and 2010, with the rate of decline accelerating since 2008. Read the report at http://bit.ly/GIJrMd  

Next Steps Powered by Earth Force Releases Institute RFP

The Next Steps Institute is a unique combination of a conference, a workshop, and networking sessions. Held over four days, the STEM-focused experience brings together a variety of education professionals to delve into new content, share best practices, and reflect on education trends with peers from across the country. Now is your chance to bring Next Steps to your community! Next Steps is accepting proposals to host the 2013 Next Steps Institute. Proposals are due April 27, 2012. Visit the Next Steps website to apply today: http://bit.ly/GOB5GI  

GenerationOn Webinar - More than Celebration: Spotlight on Demonstration

Tuesday, March 27, 3:30 - 4:30 pm Eastern

Your know your students are making a difference in the world through service-learning. But how do you share your students' experiences with others? Demonstration provides students the opportunity to report on the service-learning process, showing their peers, the community and the world what youth can do through service. Join generationOn for this free webinar to learn more! http://bit.ly/GOJshi

        

Youth Vote in Alabama, Mississippi, and Illinois Primaries

 CIRCLE continues to keep track of young people's participation in the 2012 primaries:  

• Illinois Primary Youth Turnout 4%   
• Santorum Surpasses Paul in Cumulative Youth Vote Count after Alabama and Mississippi Primaries   
• Youth Turnout in Alabama 8%, Mississippi 5% 

Get all the latest at http://bit.ly/xauPuH   

Service Calendars

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

 
March 2012
Best Buddies Month - March
Youth Art Month - March
National Nutrition Month - March
Great American Cleanup - March 1 - May 31

World Book Day - March 1
Read Across America Day - March 2
Teen Tech Week - March 4-10
International Women's Day - March 8
Girl  Scout Week - March 11-17

Absolutely Incredible Kid Day - March 15
Areyvut Make a Difference Day - March 16-18

National Wildlife Week - March 19-25
World Water Day - March 22
National Youth Violence Prevention Week -
                                                        March 19-23  

Song of the Week

John Legend - "If You're Out There" 

"If you hear this message, wherever you stand
I'm calling every woman, calling every man
We're the generation
We can't afford to wait
The future started yesterday and we're already late
...
I searched for a leader
But the leader was me
We were looking for the world to change
...
If you're ready we can shake the world
Believe again
It starts within
We don't have to wait for destiny
We should be the change that we want to see."

The Editor