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April 12, 2012
Volume 19, No. 15
Circulation: 40,100
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Read, Mentor, or TUTor on GYSD
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 Every 26 seconds in the United States, a student drops out of school. Around the world, 75 million youth don't have access to education. Help youth succeed through education on Global Youth Service Day (April 20-22, 2012).
Get education service project ideas from YSA's National & Global Partners on the GYSD.org Project Ideas page.
Youth can encourage their peers to BMOR than a statistic and stay in school through the BMOR 26 Seconds campaign.
Take the pledge to become a volunteer reader, tutor or mentor on GYSD, or use GYSD to get other people in your community to take the pledge. After you take the pledge, learn what you can do today to get started reading, tutoring, or mentoring.
Learn about America's Promise Alliance Impact Network, an alliance of young leaders from across the nation contributing to the Grad Nation campaign. Get ideas for how to help in the Impact Network Monthly newsletter.
As a result of bullying, 3 million young people miss school each month. Get ideas and resources from StopBullying.gov or plan to participate in the National Day of Silence next Friday, April 20 as part of GYSD.
Planning a GYSD project to read, mentor, tutor, or help kids stay in school? Tell us about it: www.GYSD.org/register
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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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Disney to Honor Young Change-Makers in Lead-Up to Global Youth Service Day!
We're going to Disney World! YSA is excited to be a special guest at the Disney Kids and Nature Celebration, April 12-14.. The three-day event is designed to inspire lifelong conservation leadership, and to recognize and reward more than 100 kids and five organizations (including YSA) for their work to protect the planet and conserve nature. What an exciting way to kick off the lead-up to Global Youth Service Day! We are all honored to be a part of these magical celebrations! http://bit.ly/HME17m
| 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
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News From the Field
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Wendy Spencer: Ready to Serve
On her first day in office, Corporation for National and Community Service CEO Wendy Spencer recounted some of the service experiences that shaped her life and asked community and nonprofit leaders to share their ideas on how to make service more effective in addressing local problems.
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Hunger Hits Home
Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 14th. That night, Food Network will premiere a first-of-its-kind documentary about childhood hunger in America. The documentary, Hunger Hits Home, tells the story of three American families facing hunger, takes a close-up look at the impact hunger has on a child, and the community and national leaders who are taking direct action to fight it. This project has been a collaborative effort between Share Our Strength and Food Network; they have worked together to create a landing page where you can watch a trailer of the documentary and download the documentary viewers guide. http://bit.ly/Hvu2B8
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Backyard Broadcast
This spring, the Child Rescue Association of North America is launching Backyard Broadcast a new, innovative youth-driven campaign dedicated to raising awareness about the child sex industry in North America. The Backyard Broadcast youth leadership program is a competitive, year-long commitment that brings together 25 teens from across North America to build a grassroots movement focused on combating the sexual exploitation of children throughout the United States and Canada. Participants of the program will be responsible for launching and leading the inaugural school-based Backyard Broadcast Stations - recruiting and managing their peers and community members to take on this issue as their own. If you're entering 11th or 12th grade in fall 2012, you're eligible to apply. For more information and application details, visit: http://bit.ly/HAU5Gb
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Lauren Alaina Becomes Special Olympics Project UNIFYŽ Ambassador
Performs hit songs as part of the National Service-Learning Conference http://bit.ly/HPwKQj
Special Olympics Project UNIFYŽ announced Lauren Alaina, American Idol Season 10 runner up, as a Special Olympics Project UNIFYŽ Ambassador for North America. Project UNIFYŽ brings youth with and without intellectual disabilities together through education, sports and related initiatives to provide them with the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to create and sustain school communities that promote the acceptance, respect and human dignity for all students. In celebration of the partnership and her new role as Special Olympics Project UNIFYŽ Ambassador, Alaina performed at the conference and expressed her commitment to inclusion and to help overcome prejudices about intellectual disability. http://bit.ly/HAVFb3
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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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Power of Children Awards
Deadline: May 5
The Power of Children Awards: Making a Difference is an annual event intended to honor and further empower middle- and high-school students (grades 6-11) who have made a significant impact on the lives of others, demonstrated selflessness, and exhibited a commitment to service and the betterment of society. The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is seeking to nurture and recognize individual youth as role models who exemplify an extraordinary commitment to public service and social responsibility. They could receive the following: a $2,000 grant to continue his or her extraordinary work; a four-year post-secondary scholarship to a participating institution of higher learning; recognition in the museum's The Power of Children exhibit for at least one year; honor and recognition during a special awards event on Nov. 2, 2012 at The Children's Museum. http://bit.ly/J1KKqz
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SparkOpportunity Challenge
Deadline: May 15
The SparkOpportunity Challenge calls on young people to submit videos or text detailing their solutions and use social media to campaign for the ideas that they think can really work. The top-voted winners will receive an iPad, start-up grants of $1,500, and mentoring from recognized business and policy leaders to see their ideas brought to life locally. Organizers are launching this online effort in response to the White House Council for Community Solutions' call for the nation to do more to reconnect young people with the education, training and comprehensive social supports critical for long-term employment and lifelong economic independence. http://bit.ly/HvA70A
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MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Awards
Deadline: May 15
The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation need your help identifying exemplary afterschool programs serving middle school youth to win a $10,000 MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Award and to be featured in our 2012 series of issue briefs. The MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Awards aim to identify potentially lesser-known, yet highly effective programs and the individuals running them. Nominees will be judged by the innovative nature of their approach and demonstrated effectiveness. Each of the five award winners will receive $10,000 for their program. http://bit.ly/kKQCIl
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Everyday Young Heroes
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Carter and Olivia, One More Generation
Fayetteville, GA
YSA recognizes 10-year-old Carter and his 9-year old sister Olivia of Fayetteville, Georgia as Everyday Young Heroes for their work to connect environmental issues with animal protection to preserve our planet.
They adopted cheetahs in South Africa for several years, and when they heard that cheetahs, along with so many other species, were close to extinction, they knew they had to act.
They started One More Generation in late 2009 and the organization was granted 501(c)(3) status in May 2010.
One More Generation is dedicated to the preservation of endangered species and our environment. Their goal is to ensure all endangered species survive at least One More Generation... and beyond. They just launched a "Say No To Plastic Bags" Coalition in their community and partnered with the great folks at the ISFoundation (Ian Somerhalder, you may know him from his role in the hit TV series "Lost", or more recently, his role as Damon Salvatore in the TV Hit "Vampire Diaries"). Together, they hope to raise awareness about the problem plastic bags are causing to our environment and to endangered species. To learn more, visit www.onemoregeneration.org 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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Bully Movie Guide
This year, more than 13 million American students will be bullied, making it the most common form of violence young people in the U.S. experience. To confront bullying's most tragic outcomes, Sundance- and Emmy-award winning filmmaker Lee Hirsch directed the documentary Bully, which features stories that represent a different facet of this bullying crisis. As a result of bullying, 3 million young people miss school each month. Facing History and Ourselves has developed a Safe Schools viewing guide that can be downloaded for free at http://bit.ly/HEI2er Find links to additional bullying resources at: http://bit.ly/HMO10q
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New Earth Day 2012 Resources Now Available
The Earth Day 2012 website has gotten a facelift and now contains many more resources for Earth Day event organizers and anyone who wants to help Mobilize the Earth on April 22nd. From banners and stickers to social media tools and press releases, you'll find what you need on this beefed-up, redesigned site. http://bit.ly/HMO7Fk
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New Social Citizens Website Launches
Are you a fearless, young, next generation leader who is adopting new technologies, fostering transparency, and developing new tools to create change in exciting and fresh ways? Check out the Case Foundation's updated SocialCitizens.org website! The new website goes well beyond the original blog and reflects the evolution of Social Citizens. The site features design elements inspired by the newly updated Social Citizens logo; custom features specially created to foster engagement and conversation; a spotlight on our extraordinary Social Citizens Ambassadors; and much more. http://bit.ly/HPClWV
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Civic Data Challenge
The Civic Data Challenge turns the raw data of "civic health" into beautiful, useful applications and visualizations, enabling communities to be better understood and made to thrive. Civic health data has been collected for years, and we now have an opportunity to make this trove of community insight more valuable and accessible to decision makers and the public. The Civic Data Challenge will bring new eyes, new minds, new findings, and new skill sets to the field of civic health. Designers, data scientists, researchers, and app developers are especially encouraged to join the Challenge. http://bit.ly/HEFCe8
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Song of the Week
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Tyrone Wells - "Freedom"
"If something's on your mind
Say what you need to say
And if you need to make a change
Go on and walk away
If something's in your heart
You gotta let it out
Go on and show the whole wide world
What you are all about..."
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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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