2008 National Learn & Serve Challenge: Be A Solution!

Accept the Challenge: October 6-12, 2008

Join your peers from around the country for a concentrated week of special events and community outreach activities designed to raise awareness and build support for service-learning.

After a successful inaugural 2007 National Learn & Serve Challenge, planning began for a bigger and better 2008 Challenge. We revamped the website, created activity ideas and tip sheets, and added outreach materials! In the coming weeks, we will be posting information here about new additions on the Challenge website, which include how-to videos, a Facebook group for the Challenge, widgets, and more!

Participating is easy! Already, people from around the country are planning events for the Challenge week.

The Borough of Manhattan Community College will be hosting a service-learning fair. The Annapolis Road Academy, the University of Maine Farmington, Patuxent Valley Middle School, and Parkdale High School will use environmental projects to bring the focus to service-learning. Many more groups, individuals, organizations, and schools will be shining the spotlight on service-learning during the Challenge.

Start planning now!

• Tell us what you'll be doing during the 2008 National Learn & Serve Challenge on our website.
• Visit Learn & Serve Challenge online for suggested ways to get involved, and free downloadable tools and tip sheets.
• To become a Proud Partner of the National Learn & Serve Challenge, email nslp@aed.org with "Proud Partner" in the subject line of your message to add your school or organizations's name to the list. Visit www.learnandservechallenge.org for a full list of Proud Partner organizations.
• Order your Challenge t-shirts, buttons, and more at the Online Store section of the website.

For more information, call (202) 884-8625 or email nslp@aed.org. Spread the word!

Service-Learning in the Hizouse (of Representatives)

Ross Wilson of Campfire and I have been all over the hill the last two weeks making the case for an expanded commitment to service-learning. On the Senate side we've met with staffers for Senators Harkin (D-IA), Murkowski (R-AK), Alexander (R-TN), Murray (D-WA), Kennedy (D-MA), Specter (R-PA), and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). On the House side we've met with Congressmen Scott (D-VA), Platts (R-PA), Obey (D-WI), Ehlers (R-MI), Hare (D-IL), and Congresswoman McCarthy (D-NY). We also met with the Republican staff for the Education and Labor Committee. Considering that these make up the majority of our tier 1 targets in regards to support and influence, I feel very good about where we're at. Overall, we received a lot of positive feedback and a willingness to work with us on future efforts to expand Learn and Serve America and provide more youth with service-learning opportunities. We made the case that the program started out really as a pilot in the 90s with the intention that it would expand and since then has seen significant cuts. We talked about the cost effectiveness of the program which only costs the government $25 per youth served and all the benefits that accrued from that. Finally, to each member we made a really effective individual case building on past issues they'd supported and how service-learning might fit into addressing those agendas. Along those lines the case for dropout prevention and meeting the academic needs of at-risk youth were huge. Other issues included teen pregnancy, special education, volunteerism, and several others. The next step is now to just continue with this push with other members and deepen the commitment of members we've met with in regards to their support for service-learning. We are starting to build momentum so whether your Representative or Senator is friendly or unfriendly to service-learning be in touch and help us make the effective case to them. We're moving forward, but we got a long way to go and we need your help to get there.

Obama Addresses Service-Learning and National Service

Last week, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama spoke in Colorado Springs, CO, on national service and service-learning. Obama cites service as having had an immeasurable effect on his life, helping him to discover himself and his place in the larger story of America.
Obama addresses his plan to integrate service-learning, saying:

"Finally, we need to integrate service into education, so that young Americans are called upon and prepared to be active citizens.

Just as we teach math and writing, arts and athletics, we need to teach young Americans to take citizenship seriously. Study after study shows that students who serve do better in school, are more likely to go to college, and more likely to maintain tha tservice as adults. So when I'm President, i will set a goal for all American middle and high school students to perform 50 hours of service a year, and for all college students to perform 100 hours of service a year. This means that by the time you graduate college, you'll hace done 17 weeks of service.

We'll reach this goal in several ways. At the middle and high school level, we'll make federal assistance conditional on school districts developing service programs, and give schools resources to offer new service opportunities. At the community level, we'll develop public-private partnerships so students can serve more outside the classroom."

Obama encourages American citizens to rise to the occasion, and accept the call to service, saying, "Loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it. If you do, your life will be richer, and our country stronger."

To see Senator Obama's speech in Colorado Springs, please visit this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df2p6867_pw

Let us know what you think about Senator Obama's proposal to promote service-learning and youth civic engagement.