Celebrate My Drive for
Teen Driver Safety

Keeping teens safe on the road is one of the most troubling social issues of our time. Car crashes are the number one killer of teens, and a teen's first year on the road is the most dangerous. State Farm is firmly committed to preventing these tragedies. State Farm is debuting a new approach to keeping teens safe on the road. On September 15, 2012, Celebrate My Drive™ will rally communities to celebrate new drivers as they explore the road ahead. By celebrating the drive with teens and their parents and providing important safety tools and resources, State Farm is working to prevent teen crashes, reduce injuries, and save lives.

Teens can become a part of the Celebrate My Drive community and conversation at: www.facebook.com/CelebrateMyDrive The Facebook page is a "by teens, for teens" platform with information about Celebrate My Drive, focusing on teen conversations about the road ahead. The target audience is teens in the U.S. and Canada between the ages of 15 and 18. Through this online community, teens will be invited to provide input on the Celebrate My Drive effort. Tools and incentives will reward their participation.

Engage your high school in a Celebrate My Drive event for the chance to earn a $100,000 grant award from State Farm and stay tuned for more information. www.celebratemydrive.com

Connect with YSA

YSA Funding Partners

Corporation for National and Community Service

News From the Field

Millennial Civic Engagement Summit

What does Millennial civic engagement look like for our Generation in the 2012 Election and beyond? Civically active Millennials in California, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania are invited to crowdsource their ideas for the Mobilize.org Millennial Civic Engagement Competition using the GOOD Maker platform. The semi-finalists who receive the most votes through this online competition will be invited to attend the Millennial Civic Engagement Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 24 - 26, 2012, where they will work collaboratively with their peers to further develop sustainable, community-based solutions. http://bit.ly/LtyhNu

Vote to Help Choose SparkOpportunity Challenge Winners

The SparkOpportunity Challenge ends at midnight this Friday, May 25. Young people from across the country submitted more than 130 fabulous ideas to create economic and educational opportunities for youth. The ideas range from neighborhood efforts to projects that would create national change. Check out the innovative strategies today's youth have designed to address the challenges facing their generation. You have 5 votes to cast for your favorite ideas at: http://bit.ly/HvA70A

Commencement Speeches

It's commencement season, and the call to serve and do great things is a common theme. Here are a couple of our favorite speeches so far this year:

Neil Howe, an expert on social generations, spoke about Millennials:"So all of you parents out there: Be proud of this new generation. They aren't like you, but they are what America now needs. They don't complain about the storm clouds looming over their fiscal, economic, and geopolitical future; they try to stay positive. They don't want to bring the system down; they're doing what they can to make it work again." http://bit.ly/LkNbpJ

Eric Greitens, a former Navy SEAL and founder of The Mission Continues spoke about the importance of all forms of service: "What I also learned in college is that the more you ask the question "What kind of service can I provide? What kind of positive difference can I make in the lives of others;" if you work everyday to live an answer to that question, then you will be stronger." http://bit.ly/LkNilk

Points of Light, NCoC, Bloomberg News Launch Civic 100

The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) and Points of Light announced the launch of The Civic 100, a national initiative to survey, rank, and recognize corporations on how they engage the communities they serve and institutionalize these practices as part of their corporate culture. The Civic 100 isn't the first effort to track corporate social responsibility, but it is the first initiative to implement a scientific approach to measuring and evaluating corporate civic engagement. The Civic 100 survey is available to S&P 500 companies now through July 31. Responses will be used to generate an overall composite score, resulting in a rank ordered 1-to-100 list to be published in Bloomberg Businessweek in mid-November. To learn more about The Civic 100 survey as well as the importance of civic engagement in corporate America, please visit www.Civic100.org.

Grants & Awards

State Farm Good Neighbor Student Achievement Grants

Deadline: May 31

State Farm™ is proud to team up with YSA to offer grants of up to $1,000 for programs enhancing student achievement through service-learning in K-12 public schools in all fifty US states, the District of Columbia, and in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick. Each grant engages participating teachers and students in a service and learning program that promotes academic achievement, workplace readiness, and stronger communities. The State Farm Good Neighbor Student Achievement Grant requires a 12 to 14 week Semester of Service™. www.ysa.org/goodneighbor

Captain Planet Environment Grants

Deadline: May 31

The Captain Planet Foundation primarily makes grants to U.S.-based schools and organizations with an annual operating budget of less than $3 million. Grants are made for activities that promote and support high-quality educational programs that enable children and youth to understand and appreciate our world through learning experiences that engage them in active, hands-on projects to improve the environment in their schools and communities. Preferential consideration is given to requests seeking seed funding of $500 or less and to applicants who have secured at least 50% matching or in-kind funding. http://bit.ly/y1tPpz

Banking on Youth Competition

Deadline: June 10

The Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) Foundation and Ashoka's Youth Venture bring you the Banking on Youth competition! Banking on Youth is an exciting opportunity to showcase your great idea for a venture that directly benefits society. If you are age 13-20, show your venture idea through a creative and fun 90-second video and entry form to compete to win one of 49 different $1,000 seed money prizes provided by sponsoring banks to bring your idea to life. The top six entrants, chosen by the CBA Foundation and Youth Venture, will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the annual Global Youth Venture Summit in Washington, D.C. in July to compete in a "pitch-off" for the chance to win the Audience Choice Award of $5,000 or the grand prize of $15,000! http://bit.ly/JhSDtR

Chevrolet Green Educator Award

Deadline: June 30

Earth Force and the General Motors Foundation are looking for inspirational educators who engage youth in innovative and interactive environmental learning. Ten educators from across the United States will be chosen to receive this prestigious award. You may nominate yourself or a GREEN educator who exemplifies the criteria listed below. Winners will be announced on September 1, 2012. The Award recognizes educators who encourage youth to lead their own learning, support learning beyond the classroom to improve their communities, and create and sustain local partnerships that connect young people to their community. A GREEN Educator may work in a formal or non-formal education setting. http://bit.ly/J1PNHy

Everyday Young Heroes

Marissa Hacker

Voorhees, NJ

YSA recognizes 15-year-old Marissa Hacker of Voorhees, New Jersey as an Everyday Young Hero for her work to raise awareness about Autism and provide support to young people with special needs.

Marissa was inspired by her Autistic twin brother and started her own non-profit to raise awareness about kids with special needs and to help them make friends. Fantastic Friends gives tweens and teens with special needs an opportunity to socialize with their peers, have fun, and develop new relationships. Marissa currently engages 35 friends and peers who volunteer with her local chapter of Fantastic Friends, and she utilizes social media to help recruit volunteers, inspire other kids to start their own chapters, and raise awareness about the need to provide emotional and social support for young people with special needs. Her dream is that Fantastic Friends will become a national organization with chapters all over the country. Learn more on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/JWc9B3

For her dedication to ensuring that her peers with special need have the chance to develop friendships and support systems, we honor Marissa 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

NYLC Webinar: Activating Youth to Tackle Big Issues with YSA

Tuesday, June 5 @ 12:00pm Central

Join NYLC and YSA (Youth Service America) on June 5, 2012 for this webinar to learn about YSA's model for youth leadership through service and how you can get involved. Since 1986 YSA (Youth Service America) has been mobilizing youth, teachers, and community organizers in service. Through mobilizing campaigns, service-learning grants, and resources YSA engaged more than 550,000 young people in 2011. Participants in this webinar will learn more about YSA's global programs and how you and your youth can get more involved. http://bit.ly/Ket7bL

EarthEcho Webinar: The Big CleanUP: Protecting Our Waters

Thursday, June 7 @ 1:00pm Eastern

Join EarthEcho International's Philippe Cousteau and partners from Terracycle and One World One Ocean for a special webinar to kick-off The Big CleanUP, an exciting summer-long contest involving young people taking action to protect our world's oceans. The webinar is part of the outreach surrounding the USA Pavilion at the 2012 World Expo in Yeosu, Korea. Participants should download EarthEcho's Water Planet Challenge CleanUP Action Guide written by Cathryn Berger Kaye, prior to the webinar. http://bit.ly/JAzYi9

Change Your World Curriculum

part of Seasons of Service: Engaging Youth in Service-Learning Throughout the Year

Change Your World offers 12-sessions to engage youth in service-learning and intentionally build their leadership skills to solve social problems. It's an experiential look at discovering individual strengths, exploring community needs, and planning community projects to help youth change their world. http://bit.ly/JoXbjs

YOU.edit The News

This site by the PBS NewsHour features a wealth of short videos about various current events as well as online editing software that allows students to mix these clips with video clips they create themselves. Edit the news at: http://bit.ly/KjPkUj

Each video story is also supported by lesson plans with content-based standards, discussion questions, student activities, vocabulary and primary references for teachers. Access educator resources at: http://to.pbs.org/LkwKKb