New Magazine Launched by International Youth Foundation

YOUth, the International Youth Foundation’s new flagship magazine, offers interviews, personal stories, and essays focused on youth development around the world. Published by IYF twice a year, the magazine seeks to celebrate the power and promise of young people to change the world, while incorporating the varied voices and perspectives from those in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. To read the premier issue, visit http://www.iyfnet.org/section.cfm/31/286

MTV Launches ThinkMTV

MTV launches new site entitled ThinkMTV which focuses on social activism.
You can read about this site in the article below, or visit www.thinkmtv.com.

Viacom's Flux has its first major tenant: ThinkMTV

Posted by Caroline McCarthy

MTV has just launched a new social-networking community for youth activism, ThinkMTV, which is designed to network members both online and offline around causes ranging from climate change to HIV/AIDS. While as a standalone network it's not particularly momentous or innovative (although few names come to mind in the "social networking with a social conscience" space that specifically target the MTV demographic), ThinkMTV is worth noting because it's the first major operation to be unveiled as part of MTV parent company Viacom's new Flux social networking initiative.

MTV representatives told CNET News.com in an interview that ThinkMTV had largely been created as a result of the "Just Cause" study that the company had enacted about a year ago, in which 80 percent of young people surveyed said that community and social action was important, but that only 19 percent said they were already very involved.

Some brief and recent history: last week, after some rumor buzz, Viacom unveiled Flux's framework without a high-profile debut. It's a distributed platform, created out of what was once the social networking start-up Tagworld (which Viacom invested in), that will ultimately bring community features to many of the media giant's pop-culture brands as well as external partners. Prior to Thursday's official beta debut of ThinkMTV, the Flux functionality had already been integrated into some smaller niche sites.

Sign-ups for the beta of the Flux community on ThinkMTV had been open for some time now, and a bare-bones Think site was accessible (sans social networking features). The full site includes information resources, multimedia content, and means for members to network both as socialization and as a way to rally for the various causes involved. ThinkMTV has bolstered its community with some big-name nonprofits: The "founding partners" at the launch are the Case Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Goldhirsh Foundation, and MCJ Foundation. The site will also (naturally) be celebrity-heavy, with usual suspects like Leonardo DiCaprio, John Mayer and Bono connected in one capacity or another.

One of the more unique aspects of ThinkMTV promises to be the "Action Badges," which could be considered the digital-age version of scouting merit badges. They aren't part of the initial launch, but will be rolled out in coming months; users can earn them for real-world actions like volunteerism or blood donation, or by submitting video or photo content to the site.

The new community will additionally be a platform for existing MTV activism campaigns, ranging from the company's ongoing partnership with the Gates Foundation to the "campaign dialogue" series that it's organized in conjunction with MySpace in advance of the 2008 presidential elections.

Funding Opportunity State Farm Youth Advisory Board

Here is a funding opportunity offered through State Farm.
The initiatives must be youth lead and involve service-learning.
For more information visit; http://www.statefarmyab.com/page1.php
Good luck!
Jen

National Youth Council

National Youth Council

www.uspublicserviceacademy.org

The U.S. Public Service Academy is an exciting effort that is capturing the imagination of young people all across the country. You can become an important part of our movement by joining the National Youth Council (NYC) or your state’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC). As part of the NYC and YAC, you will help us build the Academy in three important ways:

1) Youth mobilization
We need to spread the word about the Academy to young people everywhere – in schools, churches, synagogues, malls, FaceBook, MySpace, . . . The best way to get young people involved is to have another young person tell them about what we are doing. NYC and YAC members will help us get more young folks involved in the movement.

2) Political action
Think you are too young to make an impact on politics? Wrong! Young people have already been tremendously helpful in getting a bill to create the Academy in front of Congress. The U.S. Public Service Academy Act (S. 960 in the Senate and H.R. 1671 in the House of Representatives) was introduced in March 2007. Now that the bill has been introduced, we need to convince people in Congress to support it. NYC and YAC members can help us organize letter-writing campaigns and call-in days that will encourage representatives and senators to join us.

3) Blueprint feedback
As part of the movement to build the Academy, we are writing a Blueprint that will describe what the school will look like from the ground up. This document will cover admissions, faculty, students, student life, post-graduation placement, and other important topics. NYC and YAC members will read through the document to make sure that we don’t screw it up – after all, young people will attend the college, and we want to be sure that our plans make sense to them.

As part of the NYC and YAC, you will help us change the face of higher education in this country. You will be expected to spend 1-2 hours a week (more if there is a major event coming up) working on the Academy. The hours are flexible, and much of the work can be done online. If you are interested, download the NYC contact sheet or the YAC contact sheet and email it to Shawn Raymond:

raymond@uspublicserviceacademy.org

National Service Learning Clearinghouse

Check out www.servicelearning.org for information on youth and service learning.

Learn and Serve America's National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC) supports the service-learning community in higher education, kindergarten through grade twelve, community-based initiatives and tribal programs, as well as all others interested in strengthening schools and communities using service-learning techniques and methodologies.

NSLC also has a free e-newsletter that you can subscribe to by visiting www.servicelearning.org.
Have a great day!
Jen

YPS

Today I am focusing on YPS which is a program of the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Case Western Reserve University.

YPS develops and promotes leadership and personal involvement by youth in the giving of time, treasure, and talent to their community.

YPS provides resources and support for adults implementing K-12 youth service and philanthropy programs within their schools and organizations. These services fall into three categories: training and networking, knowledge dissemination, and professional support.

YPS offers an e-newsletter that includes information and events related to youth service. Many of them are in Ohio so it can be a great regional resource.

Check out YPS at http://www.case.edu/mandelcenter/yps/.
Have a great day!
Jen

Funding Offered for Youth-led Service Campaigns for Global Youth Service Day 2008

Attention! Check out this opportunity for funding!

Grants of up to $1,000 are available to support youth-led service-learning projects around Global Youth Service Day 2008. Educators, school-based service-learning coordinators, and young people ages five up to 25 across the United States and Canada (select provinces) are encouraged to apply. The grants, sponsored by Youth Service America and the State Farm Companies Foundation, support campaigns addressing a wide range of issues, from health and climate change to education, homelessness, and literacy. The application deadline is October 16, 2007.
For the full press release please visit: http://www.servenet.org/Toolkit/ContentManagement/ServiceWireNews/tabid/122/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/328/Default.aspx

Good luck!
Jen

The Generator

Hello youth service fans!
Today I am elaborating on one of Dick's postings about NYLC. This organization has a great FREE electronic publication call The Generator. You can sign up for this free subscription by visiting www.nylc.org.

This month features an "In depth look at reflection", and has a listing of news and events concerning service-learning and youth.
Check it out!
Have a great weekend,
Jen

National Learn & Serve Challenge

What is the National Learn & Serve Challenge?

The National Learn & Serve Challenge, September 17-23, 2007, is a concentrated series of special events and activities designed to spotlight service-learning successes around the country. It is also designed to show support for Learn and Serve America and inspire other schools and communities to launch their own service-learning initiatives.

For more information visit; www.service-learningpartnership.org

Today's Youth Service Highlight

Hello youth service supporters,
Today I am featuring a resource called CIRCLE, The Center for Information &
Research On Civic Learning & Engagement. This resource hails from the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy and features service learning in K-12.

Check out their website at www.civicyouth.org.
They also have a newsletter subscription that users can receive via e-mail.
Enjoy!
Jen

National Youth Leadership Council

Another good resouce is the National Youth Leadership Council. Web site: www.nylc.org

Dick

Welcome to OCC Youth Service

Welcome to the OCC Youth Service Blog!
This blog will function to update you on youth service news, events, resources and information. It is also a way for those of us who are working with youth service in the K-16 levels to share ideas, programs and solutions.
For the first posting I would like to suggest some links to useful youth service websites and newsletters. If you have a favorite youth service site to share please feel free to post!
Thank you,
Jen

Resources;
http://servenet.org/
Includes The National Service Briefing, a newsletter outlining articles, news and events related to youth service. Here are some highlights;

YOUTH SERVICE AMERICA SEEKS PRESENTERS FOR THE 2007 YOUTH SERVICE INSTITUTE

Join Youth Service America in San Diego for the Youth Service Institute: “Surfing the Wave of Change” on December 12-14, 2007. The Youth Service Institute will focus on four target areas of service and service-learning success;

Addressing critical global issues through strategic service
Increasing the impact of youth service: effective methods
Engaging youth audiences not typically asked to serve (disadvantaged youth, youth with disabilities, younger children, and others)
Planning effective projects: the nuts and bolts
YSA is looking for presenters to share innovative and successful approaches that address one or more of these components. The Call for Presenters deadline is September 28, 2007. For the CFP, visit http://ysa.org/Portals/0/ysi/ysi07presenters.pdf. To learn more about the Institute, visit http://ysa.org/GYSD/YouthServiceInstitute/tabid/181/Default.aspx

AMPLIFY YOUTH VOICE BY ATTENDING A YOUTH NOISE SUMMIT

Youth Noise Summits are workshops for students including time to share skills, network, and have fun. Summits are free two-day events about creating grassroots change in local neighborhoods. High school and college students who are passionate about finding real solutions to local problems are invited to attend. This fall, summits will be held in San Francisco, San Jose, Minneapolis, and Orlando. To learn more, visit http://youthnoise.com/summit/?utm_source=noisenews&utm_medium=email_083007

Do you know a young hero who should be profiled in the National Service Briefing?

Nominate a young person between the ages of 5-25, who you think deserves to be profiled as a young hero. To submit a Young Heroes nomination, please send the name, age, city, and state of the young person you are nominating, as well as a brief description of their involvement in service to change their community. Self-nominations are accepted. Send nominations to nsbinfo@ysa.org with the subject line NOMINATION.

Grants

GRANTS TO SUPPORT SUMMER OF SERVICE ACTIVITIES

The Corporation for National and Community Service has announced the availability of up to $900,000 for grants to support summer of service activities. Summer of service activities are defined as high quality, supervised, volunteer activities in multiple locations during the summer (out-of-school) months. The participants will be middle school youth (typically 10 to 14 years old) from disadvantaged circumstances in urban and rural areas. The purpose of this competition is to stimulate new or expanded service-learning opportunities in the summer programming of youth-serving organizations that already serve large numbers of youth from disadvantaged circumstances at multiple sites. Service learning opportunities are designed so that the youth meet unmet needs in their communities. To learn more, visit http://www.cns.gov/for_organizations/funding/nofa_detail.asp?tbl_nofa_id=51

STATE FARM GOOD NEIGHBOR SERVICE-LEARNING GRANTS

With the generous support of the State Farm Companies Foundation, Youth Service America is offering the annual State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grant for youth across the United States and Canada (select provinces). These grants of up to $1,000 support youth (ages 5-25), teachers, or school-based service-learning coordinators in implementing service-learning projects for Global Youth Service Day 2008. To learn more, download an application and grant guidelines at http://www.YSA.org/awards or email Goodneighbor@ysa.org. The deadline to apply is October 16.