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April 5, 2012
Volume 19, No. 14
Circulation: 40,100
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Get Moving To End
Childhood Obesity On GYSD
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Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled, and today, nearly one in three children in America are overweight or obese. Make a move to end childhood obesity on Global Youth Service Day (April 20-22, 2012).
 Download YSA's First Responders: Youth Addressing Childhood Obesity Through Service-Learning for project ideas and resources. Get even more health service project ideas from YSA's National & Global Partners on the GYSD.org Project Ideas page.
Learn about plans of 282 UnitedHealth HEROES Service-Learning grantees across the country who are leading local, hands-on programs to fight childhood obesity on GYSD.
Are you ready to make healthy changes in your home, school and community? The Alliance for a Healthier Generation (a YSA National Partner) offers resources for youth, schools, and before-and-after-school programs to inspire youth to eat healthier and move more and to make a difference in your school and community.
Find even more helpful tips and step-by-step strategies for families, schools and communities to help kids be more active, eat better and grow up healthy on the Let's Move website.
Planning a GYSD project to fight childhood obesity? Tell us about it at www.GYSD.org/register today.
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Connect with YSA
  
YSA Funding Partners
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Global Youth Service Day - April 20-22, 2012
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From the YSA Blog and GYSD.org News
News: Delta Dental of Minnesota Supports Serve a Smile GYSD Projects
Blog: Beyond the Numbers in New Castle, PA
News: American Councils FLEX Students Lead GYSD in Eurasia
Blog: Gwinnett's Global Youth Service Day 2012
News: People to People International Sets Goal of Engaging 10,000 Volunteers in 130 GYSD Projects
Blog: On Libraries Becoming Gardens
| 1,003 projects in 58 countries and 47 U.S. states are already on the GYSD Map.
Add your GYSD project or event to the GYSD Map at www.GYSD.org/register
| U.S. States with the Most GYSD Projects
1. Texas: 62
2. Minnesota: 55
3. Pennsylvania: 55
4: Michigan: 49
5. Wisconsin: 39
6. Virginia: 34
7. California: 34
8. Louisiana: 29
9. Utah: 26
10. Illinois: 25
| Countries with the Most GYSD Projects
1. Sri Lanka: 40
2. India: 37
3. Kyrgyzstan: 29
4. Brazil: 24
5. Uganda: 23
6. Bangladesh: 12
7. Kenya: 6
8. Canada: 6
9-12: Nigeria, Malawi, Liberia, Lebanon: 5
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News From the Field
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Come See YSA at the National Service-Learning Conference
If you're joining us next week at the National Service-Learning Conference in Minneapolis, stop by our booth in the exhibit hall to say hello, tell us about your GYSD 2012 plans, and pick up your free copy of the hot-off-the-press 2013 Semester of Service Strategy Guide. YSA staff will also be presenting six sessions throughout the conference, including:
- It's All About the Outcomes: How a Semester of Service™ Leads to Student Achievement, Workforce Readiness, and Stronger Communities
- The Gold Standard of Quality Practice: What the Research Shows, and How to Bring it to Your Program
- Three Reasons the World Needs Youth Service
- Multifaceted Service-Learning: Hunger, Obesity, and Environment
- ServiceVote 2012: Service-Learning and the 2012 Elections
- Grantwriting and Fundraising
Get all the details: www.YSA.org/resources/nslc2012
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Students Convene at 5th Annual Clinton Global Initiative University Meeting
Last weekend, President Bill Clinton hosted the fifth annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) meeting in Washington, D.C. More than 1,000 students representing all 50 states, 82 countries, and more than 300 universities gathered on Friday, March 30 and Saturday, March 31 at the George Washington University. During the first two days of the CGI U 2012 meeting, students along with distinguished speakers and moderators, examined critical topics such as the transformation of the Middle East, the global economic crisis and its impact on young people, recruiting and retaining teachers, the famine in the Horn of Africa, cost-effective campus sustainability programs, and the youth movement for global health. Students also participated in working sessions and skill sessions throughout Saturday where they were able to discuss and learn about topics in each of CGI U's five focus areas: Education, Environment and Climate Change, Peace and Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation and Public Health. Find text updates, photos, and videos that were posted during the event at http://bit.ly/Hr1Lx2. Learn more about this year's event at: http://bit.ly/I9G81y
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National Volunteer Week - April 15-21
For more than two decades, Points of Light has equipped nonprofit organizations to celebrate National Volunteer Week, providing visibility, thematic focus, and resources to enable them to commemorate this signature week of volunteer recognition. http://bit.ly/I2KvPB
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Kiwanis One Day - April 21
 Each year, Kiwanis clubs around the world join in a day of service. It's a global effort, but it's made of personal commitments. http://bit.ly/Ib2QsY
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Grants & Awards
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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
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Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Culturally Responsive Teaching
Deadline: April 30
This award recognizes educators who are adept at fostering productive, caring relationships with students and their families, building on students' prior knowledge and providing equitable access to learning opportunities for all students. In January 2013, Teaching Tolerance will honor five outstanding teachers at an event in Washington, D.C. Each awardee will receive $1,000. http://bit.ly/IaURMI
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National Service Impact Awards
Deadline: May 1
The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) is seeking nominations for the National Service Impact Awards from grantees, strategic partners, and service participants that exemplify the best in national and community service in key issue areas. Eligible nominees are current service participants and alumni, program directors, or programs and initiatives funded through grants (or sub-grants) from CNCS. In the case of Learn and Serve America funded programs, this could also be a teacher, student, school, college or university, or school system. Recipients will be announced and recognized at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, June 18-20, 2012, in Chicago. Recipients will be guests of CNCS as conference attendees. This prize includes conference registration, round-trip air fare, lodging, ground transportation, and per diem. http://bit.ly/HiaL9K
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L'Oréal Paris Women of Worth Awards
Deadline: May 31
Through Women of Worth, L'Oréal Paris will award 10 Women of Worth Honorees a $10,000 donation toward the nonprofit of their choice, as well as national exposure for their efforts. One Honoree will be selected via public vote as the National Women of Worth Honoree and will receive an additional $25,000. Nominees must be a woman 18 years or older, have a record of exemplary service within her community and the community at large, and be able to demonstrate the impact of her work within her community. http://bit.ly/HkVVhM
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Everyday Young Heroes
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Arianna Stephens
Springfield, MO
YSA recognizes 16-year-old Arianna Stephens of Springfield, Missouri as an Everyday Young Hero for her work to support local girls in foster care in her community.
Arianna was a foster child and after discussing with her mother the costs associated with attending her school's prom, she realized that teenage girls in the foster care system wouldn't be able to afford those expenses. She made it her personal mission to ensure that girls in her community would have the chance to feel beautiful and attend their prom. During the summer of 2011, Arianna organized a prom drive and collected 500 gowns from size 0 to 28, 100 pairs of shoes, 60 handbags, and over $1,000 in gift cards for restaurants, salon services, flowers, and photo sessions. On March 20, in partnership with Family Services, Arianna organized a prom dress event for 35 girls. Modeled after the television show "Say Yes to the Dress," Arianna recruited 45 volunteers to serve as "personal shoppers" for the girls. Arianna has received thanks and support from local foster parents whose foster kids have directly benefited from her work. The local community has expressed great interest in helping Arianna continue her project, and the Council of Churches has offered her office space to store gowns in between events. Arianna plans to continue working with community partners and volunteers to expand her project and offer services to more girls in need. to ensure that all girls in her community have the prom they always dreamed about as little girls. For her dedication to ensuring that all girls in her community have the prom they always dreamed about as little girls, we honor Arianna 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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New Value of Volunteer Time
The 2011 estimate for the value of a volunteer hour is $21.79, a 43-cent increase from 2010. The estimate helps acknowledge the millions of individuals who dedicate their time, talents, and energy to making a difference. Charitable organizations can use this estimate to quantify the enormous value volunteers provide. Check Independent Sector's website for more information about the value of volunteer time, including new state-by-state figures. http://bit.ly/HlV4f7
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Campus Vote Project Toolkit
The Campus Vote Project, launched in 2012, is a campaign to help college students work with administrators and local election officials to make the process of voting easier and overcome barriers students often face to voting that students often mention such as residency laws, registration deadlines, and strict voter ID requirements.Every campaign needs a plan, so start building yours! Download the Campus Vote Project Toolkit: http://bit.ly/HSNf3X
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Integrating Scientific Practices Through Service-Learning: Engaging Students in STEM
KIDS Consortium, a non-profit organization based in Maine, just released a new Guide: Integrating Scientific Practices Through Service-Learning: Engaging Students in STEM. The Guide is designed to help educators integrate service-learning into STEM content areas. Examples in this Guide help illustrate how to plan and structure a STEM/service-learning project and how these projects benefit students, schools and communities.
Developed through a collaboration called "Youth as Citizen Scientists" with the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance and schools around the northeast, the Guide highlights the work of more than 1,000 middle-school students with their teachers and community partners to address environmental issues (such as waste reduction and energy efficiency) in their schools. http://bit.ly/HiB6Af
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Points of Light - American Express Leadership Academy
In conjunction with the 2012 National Conference on Volunteering and Service, Points of Light is pleased to offer the American Express Leadership Academy, developed and delivered by the Center for Creative Leadership. This program offers 24 emerging leaders an opportunity to participate in a marquis leadership development program that includes a feedback-intensive learning environment, including hands-on activities to enhance leadership capacity. Applicants must currently be in the volunteering and service sector and have an interest in advancing into positions with greater leadership responsibility during their career. Specifically, applicants must be managers expecting to assume executive-level roles within five to ten years. Applicants must be willing to commit to the one-year initiative and have support of their organization to participate. Application deadline is April 13. http://bit.ly/Ht7lM6
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Song of the Week
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Jason Mraz - "The World As I See It"
"The world as I see it, is a remarkable place
A beautiful house in a forest, of stars in outer space
From a birds eye view, I can see it has a well-rounded personality
From a birds eye view, I can see we are family
Yeah the world as I see it, is a remarkable place
Every man makes a difference and every mother's child is a saint
From a birds eye view I can see, we are spiraling down in gravity
From a birds eye view I can see, you are just like me
It's not hard for me to love you..."
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The Editor
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 Mike Minks Director of Outreach and Innovation
Editor-in-Chief @michaelminks |
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