Miss DC International Speaks on Service-Learning

On Friday, October 2008, Miss DC International, Titi Williams-Davies, addressed a crowd of DCPS out of school coordinators during ServeDC's training event for the National Learn & Serve Challenge. The event took place in Greeley Hall, Academy for Educational Development, Washington, DC.

See Titi's speech:

A Tale of Two Graduates

By Myra Saturen, Northampton Community College

Talk about serendipity! Or call it two people with one mission finding each other. The two, both recent college graduates, were able to connect to fulfill their mission of helping others through their involvement in the service-learning program at Northampton Community College (NCC) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Eunice Juma came to Bethlehem from her native Kenya, where she had worked as an administrator in a home-based health care service for people with HIV and AIDS. Her quest to help people led her to enroll two years later in the social work program at NCC.

Juma chose to apply her devotion to service through the service-learning option in a course on local and state government. She was assigned to the Salvation Army of Bethlehem, an agency that helps people secure food, clothing, and job information. “Service-learning opened my eyes to how people suffer in America,” she says, adding that it also taught her ways of helping people in a social service environment.

Juma’s experience at the Salvation Army had another important outcome: shortly after receiving her associate degree in 2006, Juma became the agency’s assistant director. The following year she was promoted to director of social services and the agency’s Learning Zone.

Juma’s many responsibilities included the after-school program for young people. Seeking to combine her interests in health care and service, she thought: wouldn’t it be wonderful to have cooking classes for children and teens, aimed at preparing nutritional meals on a budget? Seeking a volunteer cooking teacher, she called NCC Service-Learning Administrator Debra Bohr. Bohr contacted Scott Kalamar, an associate professor of culinary arts.

As luck would have it, just a few weeks later Kalamar received another phone call, from former student Renee D’Almeida. D’Almeida had graduated from NCC’s culinary arts program, where she had earned an associates degree while working part-time and taking care of her three children. At the college, she found instructors who were “inspiring, encouraging, generous, and helpful.”

After graduating, D’Almeida had gone on to work for the catering department of Lafayette College. A passionate volunteer, D’Almeida remembered the support she received at NCC and wanted to give back. Seeking to volunteer somewhere as a cook, she called Scott Kalamar, and through him reached Eunice Juma. Before long, the women were planning cooking classes for children ages 8–16, to be taught by D’Almeida. They created classes with an element of improvisation, encouraging the youngsters to venture into cabinets and create dishes with whatever they found there. Their plans also included involving the children’s parents so they can learn along with their children.

While Juma and D’Almeida collaborate at the Salvation Army, they are each pursuing additional goals. Juma is continuing her education as a health education major at East Stroudsburg University. Ultimately, she would like to return to Kenya and resume her work with AIDS patients. D’Almeida hopes to supplement her interest in nutrition with a nursing degree. She wants to help women who are getting on their feet learn to cook healthful and inexpensive meals. For now, both are happy to be working on a project dear to their hearts.

Idaho Governor and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Support the Learn & Serve Challenge

BOISE – Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter joined Idaho State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna and students from across Idaho to proclaim October 6-10 as Learn & Serve Week in Idaho.

Nearly 150 students from Treasure Valley and Magic Valley schools are in Boise this week to take part in a Learn and Serve Idaho Youth Leadership Workshop. Learn and Serve enables students to make meaningful contributions to their community while building their academic and civic skills.

Governor Otter, Superintendent Luna and these students met in the Hatch Ballroom of the Student Union Building at Boise State University on October 8 to sign the Idaho proclamation.

The proclamatioin marks the National Learn & Serve Challenge, a weeklong series of local, state and national events organized by the National Service-Learning Partnership to raise awareness and public support for service-learning.

The gathering is the first of three Service Learning Youth Leadership Workshops that the State Department of Education’s Learn & Serve Idaho program is hosting across the state. The Youth Leadership Teams at 14 schools that received Learn & Serve Grants will attend these workshops. Students from seven schools in the Treasure Valley and Magic Valley will attend this first workshop. These schools are ANSER Charter School, Highlands Elementary, Parma Learning Center, Parma Middle School, Idaho Arts Charter School, Middleton High School, and Wendell Middle School.

The workshops are designed to help motivate students and offer ideas on ways they can develop innovative Learn & Serve projects that are integrated with classroom learning in their schools.

Learn more about Learn & Serve Idaho.

Governor Otter and Superintendent Luna are joined by more than 14 other governors and state policy leaders who stepped forward to support service-learning as part of the 2008 National Learn and Serve Challenge.

Visit the website of the State Education Agency K-12 Service-Learning Network (SEANet) to view copies of the available proclamations and announcements.

Ruby Dixon: Learn and Serve America Student Recognized for Leadership

from the Jackson Free Press - Jackson, MS

A typical conversation with Ruby Dixon in the halls of Lanier high school might go something like this: “Hey Ruby! Coming to choir practice today?”

“I am, but I’m leaving early for the basketball game my videotaping duties. I’ll see you Saturday for Learn & Serve America!”

Whether it’s singing in Lanier’s superior-rated choir, videotaping a school basketball game, or dancing at a Friday night football game as a Rangerette, Dixon, 17, loves to represent her school.

The Lanier honor student is involved in six clubs and still makes time to sing, dance and read. A member of the National Honor Society, Ruby scored a 25 on the ACT and a perfect score on her U.S. history state test. She works with Lanier principal Shemeka McClung and some of the school’s teachers in the Site Base Council group, which meets to talk about how to better the school. She is also involved in Learn & Serve America, a volunteer program tied to Lanier’s choir that motivates children to read and be enthusiastic about school.

Read full news story.

Community Service in a Virtual World

On Second Life by the University of Texas and the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation

The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation has announced that the University of Texas will hold the first Carter Academic Service Entrepreneur (CASE) grant program for an online virtual world project that serves the community and contributes to student learning. This competition will seek to find the most innovative way for students to serve the community online in the virtual world Second Life.

“Our CASE grant model has proven extremely successful offline, this project will be a demonstration that community service can be a new horizon for online virtual worlds,” said Foundation President Sue Sehgal. The Carter Academic Service Entrepreneur (CASE) grant program provides a $1,000 grant for a student to implement a community project, a $500 scholarship upon completion of a final report and certificates of merit signed by President and Mrs. Carter for the student and his or her faculty advisor. Example projects are at www.servicebook.org/content/view/338/155/.

At Texas, the competition for the most innovative community service activity in a virtual world will be held in conjunction with Mr. Joe Sanchez’ course on “Working in a Virtual World.” “Our students are excited about developing ideas for online VW activities that are fun, educational and valuable to the community,” said Sanchez. “This grant competition adds a substantial new dimension to an already challenging and energizing course.”

# # #

The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation provides awards and grants to students for the most innovative new ideas in community development, linked to the students’ academic programs. The Foundation helps service-minded students create exemplary, press-worthy accomplishments to encourage other students to dedicate a portion of their time, talents and resources to strengthening the communities they live in, online and offline.

The School of Information is a top-ranked national graduate program at the University of Texas that educates leaders for the information professions. It's research mission is to advance knowledge of the role of information in society, across its lifecycle from creation, through use, to curation. Its focus on information in its social context, from a single user searching for a document to a government determining the access of its citizenry to public records, reaches into schools and corporations, design companies and libraries, museums and archives, wherever people search for, read and store documented knowledge.

Read the full news release.

Spotlighting the Digital Clubhouse Network and Stories of Service

By: Warren Hegg

In partnership with National History Day, the History Channel, the FDR, Truman and Eisenhower presidential museums and libraries, and more than 30 other organizations, Digital Clubhouse Network is mobilizing America's youth to document the stories of the men and women who experienced the tumultuous events of the past century (e.g. the Great Depression, World War II, and the postwar recovery) and set the gold standard for service to community.

Together, these partner organizations will be introducing more than 1 million teachers and students to Stories of Service this fall.

The Stories of Service program involves youth interviewing America's "greatest generation" and producing short videos about their lives that are shared with schools, libraries, museums and the rest of the world on the Internet, to educate and inspire future generations.

The program, which originated in 1998 and has received three medals from the Smithsonian Institution for "visionary use of information technology to effect positive educational, economic and political change," and was featured at the National Service Learning conferences in 2006 and 2007. (Father Paul Locatelli, president of Santa Clara University, and the president of Campus Compaq, has been an honorary adviser to Stories of Service for several years.)

The program is all the more relevant in today's world, as America once again is facing historic economic and geo-political challenges. By interacting with those who successfully overcame these challenges when they, too, were young, today's youth can gain perspective and insight in how America can respond to the issues of the 21st century through a renewed commitment to community and service to one another.

Please visit www.Stories-of-Service.org for more information.

Usher at Service Nation

A Chat with R&B Superstar Usher Raymond
By: Kelly Nuxoll

At the Service Nation conference in NYC, I asked Usher, who was speaking about his "I Can't But You Campaign" in which people under 18 register eligible voters, what he considered the connection between service and voting to be.

"A sense of ownership," he answered immediately.

Two of the young people from his program, James Harris, 19, and Arnold Supa France, 17, described their awakening to civic responsibility.

"All the campers had to sit down and watch this loooong video," France said. "But when it was over, my head stood up and my eyes were open."

The video, they said, reiterated that every vote counts, and that every voice needs to be heard.

The more subtle point that France derived, however, was that young people need also to listen. "I hear kids and politicians talking about the same thing, but we're not listening to politicians or paying too much attention to politics. We need to be involved."

Taking initiative -- to vote, to volunteer, to lead -- is at the heart of Usher's philosophy of service. "I think we all need a leader," he said. "But leaders need to lead by example, and not just dictate."

Service-Learning News Round-Up - 10/8/08

College instructor teaches value of giving back to community

By Steve Lathrop, Albany Democrat-Herald

Taking the classroom into the real world is something Dana Emerson of Linn-Benton Community College looks at as a necessity. As part of her small group communications winter class, Emerson tossed her 11 students into what she calls, “a service learning project”, designed to help students get introduced to the business climate and benefit the community at the same time.She saw it as a learning experience that hadn’t really been approached at LBCC. It also provided a local business with some energetic support.

Read the full news story.

MORE NEWS STORIES...

Service Learning internships benefit both COTC students and businesses

from the Newark Advocate

Global Service Learning talks about Nicaragua service trip
from the Reveille, Nebraska Wesleyan University

A Conversation with Professor Patrick Shade
The Dean’s Blog: Celebrating Teaching and Learning at Rhodes College, Memphis, TN

East Students Making a Difference—East Night Out Open House to Showcase Students Work in Technology, Problem Solving, & Community Service
from Monticello Middle School

Kudos to the Service Learning Kids in the Garden
from Steinbeck K-8 School, San Jose, CA

Celebrating a service and community connection
Worcester County Times, Snow Hill, MD

Idea for Shining the Spotlight on Service-Learning

Check out the simple, but cool ways people from across the country are shining the spotlight on service-learning this week. Here is a flyer Carla Stone in Lowell, Michigan developed to make sure others were aware of the impact service-learning had on local schools and the community last year. Already, more than 40 teachers have accepted the challenge and will use service-learning in their classrooms this year!

Service-Learning News Round Up - 10/7/08

Students, Professionals Team Up for Community
from the Marion Star - Marion, OH

Students in the Career Based Intervention Program at Mount Gilead High School will partner with the Habitat for Humanity of Morrow County to fight against sub-standard housing and to learn the importance of community involvement through service.

The effort is partnership between Mount Gilead High School's Career Based Intervention class, Habitat for Humanity, and State Farm Insurance, states a press release. CBI is a school-to-work program for students who are economically disadvantaged, academically disadvantaged, or both.

A formal check presentation was held recently at the high school to present the funding to help support the program. State Farm awarded the school $8,100; $6,900 will be used toward the service-learning project and $1,200 will be used to attend the 2009 National Service-Learning Conference in Nashville, Tenn. This project is one of six in the country that received a grant from State Farm.

Read the full news story.

MORE NEWS STORIES...

Camp Fire Council Chosen for Teens Program
from the Times Press Recorder - Arroyo Grande, CA

Lake Tahoe Environmental Literacy Summit Coming
from the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza - Incline Village, NV

YMCA Service Learning Academy Announces its New Name: The Detroit Service Learning Academy

Learn & Serve Challenge Spotlights Students As Solutions to Community Problems
from the Corporation for National and Community Service - Washington, DC

West Virginia Governor Recognizes the Learn & Serve Challenge

Challenge Newsline #5, October 8, 2008 – The West Virginia Board of Education on Monday kicked off the 2008 National Learn and Serve Challenge Week in schools and communities throughout West Virginia. Gov. Joe Manchin has proclaimed Oct. 6-12, 2008, as Learn and Serve Challenge Week.

This week has been designated nationally as a week to recognize and commend service-learning efforts throughout K-16 education. As part of the celebration, West Virginia’s teachers are being recognized for their exemplary accomplishments engaging their students in rigorous and relevant learning through service to their communities.

“The West Virginia Board of Education and the Department of Education strongly believe that service learning is a method of teaching and learning that combines academic work with service to the community,” said board President Delores Cook. “Students are able to make meaningful contributions to their communities while building their academic and civic skills.”

Service-learning is instrumental in enhancing the quality of life for thousands of West Virginia citizens and fosters civic engagement to bring people of all ages and diverse backgrounds together to meet common needs.

Board President Cook will read the Learn and Serve Challenge Week proclamation publically at 12:30 p.m., Oct. 8, 2008 during the monthly Board of Education meeting in Building 6 of the Capitol Complex. For more information contact the WVDE Communications Office at (304) 558-2699.

Read the full news release

Service-Learning News Round Up - 10/6/08

Eureka High sets stage for student service
from The Eureka Reporter

Middletown woman finds sense of purpose in teaching
from the Frederick News Post

Accept the National Learn and Serve Challenge
from InterFaith Milwaukee

Hands-on history helping connect with Elgin's past
from The Courier News

Bad Debt Causes More College Drop Outs than Bad Grades

State Farm Foundation to Fund Special Financial Literacy Program to Address Problem

Challenge Newsline #4, October 7, 2008 - During a time when university administrators say they lose more students to credit card debt than to academic failure, financial experts say young people must be given more opportunities to learn and develop good financial habits.

The State Farm Companies Foundation, in partnership with The National Service-Learning Partnership at the Academy for Educational Development, will provide State Farm Good Decision™ Credit Awareness Initiative grant awards of $12,500 to the following school districts and community-based organizations.

• The LEAGUE – Austin, TX
• Austin Area Urban League – Austin, TX
• Chicago Public Schools –Chicago, IL
• FrontRange Earth Force – Denver, CO
• Miami-Dade County Public Schools – Miami, FL
• The LEAGUE – Indianapolis, IN
• Oasis Center – Nashville, TN
• Institute for Global Education and Service-Learning – Philadelphia, PA
• YMCA of Greater Tulsa – Tulsa, OK

Read the full news release.

San Franciso Mayor and School Superintendent Launch Environmental Service-Learning Program for Students

Challenge Newsline #3, October 7, 2008 - Recently, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Superintendent Carlos Garcia launched the Environmental Service Learning Initiative (ESLI) in San Francisco’s schools. ESLI will encourage students to become engaged in environmental justice issues. Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience and teach civic responsibility.

"When people talk about ‘Going Green’ that’s just a throw-away line," said Mayor Gavin Newsom. "If we want to really see meaningful results, we have to educate our students in environmental stewardship so they understand the consequences of inaction and the benefits of conservation. That’s how you change the dialogue across the country and cultivate our future environmental leaders."

"It is imperative that we teach our students to be environmentally responsible," said Superintendent Garcia. "We will model this ourselves, by increasing the environmental sustainability of our entire district. At the same time, we will be giving students the opportunity to experience firsthand being stewards of their environment through service learning."

Read the full news release

Let the Learn & Serve Challenge Begin!

Number of Participants: 87, 789

Number of Participating States: 41, plus Puerto Rico and Bangladesh

Number of Challenge Events and Activities: 190

Impact of thousands of young people, educators, community partners, business leaders, and policymakers speaking about the importance of service-learning...PRICELESS.

Today, the 2008 National Learn & Serve Challenge kicks off in schools and communities nationwide. Check out the Challenge map to locate events and activities in your state or local community.

The Learn & Serve Challenge is a concentrated week of special events and activities, spotlighting service-learning successes around the country in order to build awareness of students’ contributions to their communities; spread effective service-learning practices; and inspire other schools and communities to launch their own programs and projects.

The Challenge also promotes public understanding of Learn and Serve America, the only federal program dedicated to funding service-learning and also supports the federal goal to engage 5 million college students serving and ensure that 50 percent of America’s K-12 schools incorporate service-learning into their curricula by 2010.

The Learn & Serve Challenge is a signature event of the National Service-Learning Partnership at the Academy for Educational Development and made possible with support from the State Farm® Companies Foundation. Lead Organizing Partners include:

• State Education Agency K-12 Service-Learning Network (SEANet)
  
• National Service-Learning Clearinghouse


• America's Promise Alliance


• Camp Fire USA


• Campus Compact


• National Youth Leadership Council


• Youth Service America

Throughout the week, continue to visit this blog, which will feature service-learning news stories from around the country as well as opinions and commentary from field leaders and voices from the field.

It's not too late to join this national grassroots effort to increase awareness of and support for service-learning. Visit the Learn and Serve Challenge website for quick ideas and easy-to-implement activities.

13 and Counting: State Leaders Speak Up for Service-Learning

October 6, 2008, Challenge Newsline #2 - Several governors, chief state school officers, and state education policy leaders have also issued proclamations, resolutions, and advisories in support of service-learning and the National Learn & Serve Challenge, including:

• Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano
• California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell
• Colorado Governor Bill Ritter
• Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
• Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley
• Maryland State Superintendent of Public Instruction Nancy Grasmick
• New Jersey Governor Jon Corizine
• New York Governor David Paterson
• Pennsylvania General Assembly, Senate
• Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen
• Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Billy K. Cannady, Jr.
• Washington Governor Chris Gregoire
• Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster

View the available proclamations and resolutions by visiting the website of the State Education Agency K-12 Service-Learning Network (SEANet), a founding partner of the National Learn & Serve Challenge.

U.S. House of Representatives Expresses Support for Service-Learning

October 6, 2008, Challenge Newsline #1 - Members of the U.S. House of Representatives stepped forward to honor and celebrate the ways youth are taking what they learn in the classroom and putting it into action to improve their own lives and communities. These policymakers are joined by more than 87,000 young people, educators, business leaders, and community partners from 41 states, Puerto Rico, and Bangladesh participating in the 2008 National Learn and Serve Challenge.

House Resolution 1463 was introduced by Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA, 19th District) with bipartisan co-sponsorship and support, including Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA, 5th District) (pictured above). The resolution recognizes the benefits of service-learning in enriching and enhancing academic outcomes for youth, engaging youth in positive experiences in the community, and making more constructive choices regarding their lives. The resolution also encourages schools, school districts, college campuses, community-based organizations, non-profits, and faith-based organizations to work towards providing youth with more service-learning opportunities.

Watch comments made on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of service-learning and the National Learn & Serve Challenge by Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA, 53rd District) and Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA, 7th District) from C-SPAN Video Library. For viewing, disable your pop-up blocker and select "Watch Flash Video" if it does not immediately appear on your screen.