Introducing the National Child Awareness Month Ambassadors

In honor of September's National Child Awareness Month, YSA and Festival of Children Foundation will engage 51 outstanding teens and young adults from across the nation to serve as Youth Ambassadors, leading high-visibility campaigns to create positive change in the lives of other young people.

The Youth Ambassadors will begin their term of service in September, when they will travel to Washington, D.C., for a leadership training summit and to begin planning their campaigns. The Youth Ambassadors represent a diversity of causes, backgrounds and issue areas, ranging from child homelessness to teen driver safety. Thirty-seven of the 51 Youth Ambassadors have been selected; find out who the Youth Ambassador is from your state!  

Following the September training in Washington, D.C., the Youth Ambassadors will return to their home states to execute their campaigns over the course of several months, including a campaign event or service project on Global Youth Service Day, April 26-28, 2013.  

In celebration of September's National Child Awareness Month, we're asking for your ideas about what you can to do help young people in your community. Share your idea on Twitter with #NCAM, or post to Facebook and tag @youthservice and be entered to win! The person who posts the best idea will win a $100 gift certificate AND a $100 donation in your name to a children's charity of your choice. To be eligible, posts must hashtag #NCAM on Twitter, or tag @youthservice on Facebook. One entry per day through September 7. 

Connect with YSA

YSA Funding Partners

ServiceVote 12 for '12: Engaging Youth in the 2012 Elections Special Series

With just under 12 weeks to go until Election Day, YSA begins this special 12-part series leading up to November 6.

The voting age may be 18, but the ServiceVote(ing) age is 5-25. YSA's ServiceVote 2012 campaign calls on all young people to serve their communities during this election season by registering voters, educating voters, engaging candidates, getting out the vote,  and raising awareness and advocating for the issues you care about! (And, yes, if you're old enough, voting!)

YSA offers the ServiceVote 12 for '12 - twelve ideas of how young people can serve this election season (and only one of them requires you to be 18!) Get all the ideas, related resources, and let us know how you're getting involved at www.YSA.org/ServiceVote 

Each week until Election Day, we'll feature one way young people can get involved during the election, and highlight related programs, resources, and stories. 

ServiceVote 12 for '12
#1: Register voters.

No one can vote without being registered to vote. Some states offer same-day registration, but in most places, you have to register at least 30 days before the election.  

• Start by making sure your family, friends, and neighbors are registered to vote.
• Spread the word online encouraging your social network to register.
• If you're really into getting people registered, organize a voter registration drive.

Download the ServiceVote "Register" tipsheet and and access more voter registration resources from organizations like Rock the Vote, the League of Women Voters, Nonprofit VOTE, Campus Vote, and Project Vote at www.YSA.org/ServiceVote#1   

If you're not registered to vote yet, register here!  

For Global Youth Service Day 2012, students at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, MD organized a Rock The Vote concert that culminated a week of activities to get students registered and engaged in the election.

Project idea: Student councils or other student groups in many schools celebrate every student's 18th birthday with a birthday card that includes a voter registration form.  

News From the Field

Do Something Grand for Grandparents Day 2012 - September 9

Imagine if millions of older adults used their voices to advocate on behalf of America's future: our children and youth. That's precisely what Generations United envisions come September. Using Grandparents Day (September 9) as a call to action, Generations United is launching Do Something Grand, a full week of intergenerational activism. Find resources, ideas, and information on ways that you, youth, and your organization can get involved. Visit www.grandparentsday.org/youth  

Grants & Awards 

UnitedHealth HEROES Service-Learning Grants

Accepting Applications: Sept. 4 - Oct. 15

YSA and UnitedHealthcare are inviting schools and other community-based nonprofit organizations to Step into Service by applying for UnitedHealth HEROES grants.  Grants of up to $1,000 are available for youth-led service-learning projects which aim to combat childhood obesity through walking, running or hiking programs. The online application will open on September 4, 2012 and will close on October 15, 2012.  YSA will hold webinars to help applicants through the application process and answer all of their questions.  The first webinar will be September 13th at 3:00pm Eastern -  Sign up here. For more information, visit www.YSA.org/HEROES 

Give With Target

Deadline: September 8

Target will donate $5 million to schools as part of its "Give With Target" initiative this fall. The two-part giving campaign provides $2.5 million in grants to in-need schools, as well as up to $2.5 million in Target GiftCards to local schools through votes on Target's Facebook page. Target invites people to visit its Facebook page to vote for a school of their choice. For every 25 votes a school receives through the Give with Target Facebook application, Target will donate a $25 Target GiftCard, with a maximum donation of $10,000 per school. Voting runs from July 26 to September 8.  http://bit.ly/N44dje    

America's Great Outdoors: Connecting Youth to the Outdoors 2012 Grants

Deadline: September 19

The National Environment Education Foundation is launching the America's Great Outdoors: Connecting Youth to the Outdoors 2012 Grants. Through the grants, NEEF and its partners are catalyzing efforts to increase the number of youth who build a connection with public lands as places for recreating, learning and volunteering. Proposed projects should maximize hands-on outdoor engagement opportunities on public lands, focused on education, recreation, and environmental stewardship.  Approximately $243,000 in funding is available to support grant awards in the range of $2,500 to $20,000. http://bit.ly/Pp4rPW   

Project Learning Tree Green Works! Grants

Deadline: September 30

Do you have an idea for a school/community native plant garden, a forest improvement project, a streamside restoration plan, a recycling program, or energy conservation project for your students?  Need funds to implement it?  Apply for a Project Learning Tree GreenWorks! grant! Grants are available in two award levels:  

1) the popular and traditional GreenWorks! grants up to a maximum of $1,000, and  

2) GreenWorks! grants up to $3,000 for registered PLT GreenSchools! (free online registration)

http://bit.ly/o38z7F  

Resources & Trainings

NYLC Service-Learning Resources Available for Back-To-School

NYLC has compiled a list of resources to help  teachers, nonprofit staff, youth workers, and educators integrate elements of service-learning into their lessons, including the Service-Learning Starter Kit, Lift: Raising the Bar for Service-Learning, and the Generator School Network. http://bit.ly/Q5ffz5  

Webinar: Service-Learning with generationOn Schools

Thursday, August 23 at 4:00pm Eastern

In this 1-hour webinar, learn about the stages of service-learning, how to integrate this teaching strategy into your curriculum and ways to empower youth to become change agents in their schools and communities. http://bit.ly/PswaNC    

Service Calendars

Conferences & Events

International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement Conference 

September 23-25, 2012 - Baltimore, MD

YSA's Youth Service Institute 

October 17-19, 2012 - Houston, TX  

Summer Changes Everything National Conference 

October 22-24, 2012 - Pittsburgh, PA

People to People International Global Youth Forum
November 7-11, 2012 - Chicago, IL  

24th Annual National Service-Learning Conference 

March 13-15, 2013 - Denver, CO 

Seasons of Service

September 2012
Hunger Action Month - September 

International Literacy Day - September 8
National Day of Service and Remembrance - September 11
National Hispanic Heritage Month - September 15-October 15
Constitution Day - September 17
International Day of Peace - September 21 

Song of the Week

Garth Brooks - "We Shall Be Free"

The Editor