Semester of Service Culminates on Global Youth Service Day

Global Youth Service Day is the largest annual service event in the world. GYSD highlights and celebrates the difference youth make in their communities year-round through community service and service-learning. This weekend, millions of young will participate in and lead service projects in all 50 states and in more than 100 countries around the world. Young people, working with their families, schools, community organizations, faith-based communities, and businesses, will improve their communities and change the world by addressing critical issues such as global climate change, education & illiteracy, poverty, health, hunger, and homelessness. See the 1,800+ Global Youth Service Day projects that have already been registered - or register your own event, if you haven't already at http://gysd.org/servicemap

Read the Special GYSD Edition of the National Service Briefing.

Read our Happy GYSD mailing with details on how you can get involved in this global celebration of youth service.

Find more videos like this on Global Youth Service Day

Semester of Service Projects on Global Youth Service Day Map

Almost 10 percent of the nearly 2,000 projects registered on the Global Youth Service Day event map are Semester of Service projects. Here's a sampling of some of them:

Houston, TX -- Every Saturday throughout the spring semester, youth and adult volunteers will plan and build the Light Way Organic Garden, a garden that will provide the community with fresh, organic sustainably grown food which will be sold by "pick "n" pay" and at Farmer's markets. The food will also be used to feed lunch to the children at our school starting in September. On April 25th, the grand opening on the garden, youth from our "A Dream of a Better World" Saturday program, the Cy-Woods High School Key Club, adults and community leaders will gather to pick food from the garden and donate a portion of it to a local senior assisted living center. Youth from the Saturday program will also present information on pesticides, organic produce and which fruits and vegetables you MUST buy organic. Community members are welcome to join: www.LightWaySchools.org http://www.gysd.org/events/2009/us/tx/grand-opening-light-way-garden

Miami, FL -- Service For Peace has guided a group of 7 middle school students in the planting and development of an urban organic garden in the backyard of their school, the Yvonne Learning Center. After a semester of researching, learning, and participating in mini- projects at their organic garden, the 7 students of the Yvonne Learning Center will culminate their service-learning garden project on GYSD by leading their fellow classmates in teaching them about the garden: showing them how to plant seeds, how to maintain/care for seeds once planted, demonstrate how the vegetables & herbs could be used, etc. The garden was first planted on 2009 MLK Day by YLC students with the help and donations of Log Cabin Nursery (Miami Beach) and the individuals of Sunrise Group. http://www.gysd.org/events/2009/us/fl/our-garden-service-peace-ylc

New Jersey -- To recognize and celebrate Global Youth Service Day 2009, NJA3 (New Jersey After 3) afterschool programs across New Jersey will be working with afterschool students in March and April to explore the importance of literacy, and how it impacts each of us, our community and our world at large. The NJA3 “Listen Up!” initiative is a statewide service learning project organized by NJA3 that engages the students in its afterschool programs in meaningful examination of and action toward promoting literacy. Throughout the spring, thousands of students across New Jersey will be participating in the “Listen Up!” initiative. In conjunction with GYSD, NJA3 students will then share what they have learned by leading “Listen Up!” Literacy Fairs on and around April 24-26, 2009, that feature activities aimed at promoting reading and writing. In many of the NJA3 programs, AmeriCorps members will be leading the efforts to have youth “Listen Up!” http://www.gysd.org/events/2009/us/nj/listen-up-new-jersey-after-3-students-share-their-words-efforts-change-our-world

Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act Passes, Includes Semester of Service

This legislation greatly increases federal support for youth service and service-learning, raising authorized spending levels for youth service programs from 43 million to 97 million and creating several new service-learning programs, including:

• Youth Engagement Zones - competitive grants for local school-community partnerships that commit to engage a majority of K-12 youth-and all high school students-in a comprehensive continuum of service-learning
• Summer of Service - program that engages middle and high school students in volunteer activities in their communities and allows them to earn a $500 education award to be used for college costs.
• Service-Learning Impact Study - a ten-year longitudinal study to measure outcomes of service-learning programs

The legislation includes several items called for in YSA's Nine for '09 policy platform. Of particular interest to Youth Service America, the legislation also:

• Establishes a Semester of Service Program, modeled after YSA's Semester of Service, that allows K-12 youth to earn academic credit for service-learning programs tied to academic standards and of at least 70 hours in duration with a third of the time spent in the community opportunities in school and community-based programs.
• Recognizes Global Youth Service Day and authorizes the Corporation for National Service and other federal departments and agencies to organize activities and make grants to public or proviate nonprofit organizations to organize activities on GYSD.

Senator Dodd speaks in support of the Serve America Act, including the Semester of Service program he proposed:

Project Planning Podcasts

Youth Service America is presenting a series of service project planning webinars. These web presentations will walk through the nuts and bolts of planning and implementing a highly successful service project - great for anyone planning a Semester of Service or Global Youth Service Day project.

'HEROES' Grants, Education Guide Support Youth Leaders Addressing Childhood Obesity Epidemic During Semester of Service

In order to address the growing childhood obesity epidemic, Youth Service America (YSA) and UnitedHealth Group are supporting youth-led projects that focus on healthy lifestyles by awarding the UnitedHealth HEROES service-learning grants. The two national partners also published an educational guide to help young people and educators develop service-learning activities in their own communities.

Naming children and youth as ‘first responders’ to this national crisis, HEROES grants challenge youth to find solutions to a crisis that directly affects them. 109 youth-led projects in 15 states received grants that address the childhood obesity epidemic through direct action, such as providing exercise opportunities to children in lower grades; indirect action, such as researching diabetes and its causes and educating peers; and advocacy efforts, such as petitioning the school board to offer healthier cafeteria menu items.

In addition to the HEROES grants, YSA and UnitedHealth Group also published “First Responders: Youth Addressing Childhood Obesity Through Service-Learning”. This online education module, available free of charge at www.YSA.org, guides youth, educators, and service-learning coordinators through the process of developing obesity-related, service-learning projects with lesson plans and links to additional resources.

Download "First Responders: Youth Addressing Childhood Obesity Through Service-Learning"

“The response from applicants to the UnitedHealth HEROES program demonstrates that young people are ready to take control of their own lives and effect change in their communities,” said Steve Culbertson, president and CEO of Youth Service America. “Children and youth are educating their peers and advocating for healthy life options. I am proud that this program supports and engages young leaders to solve the biggest health challenge they face growing up.”

“We believe that as people become more aware of health issues through health literacy and advocacy initiatives they will make positive changes to live better lives ,” said Rick Jelinek, CEO of AmeriChoice, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company. “We believe the UnitedHealth HEROES grants will empower teams of students to collaborate with teachers and community leaders to develop their own awareness programs that will make their schools and neighborhoods healthier. In reviewing the grant applications, we were inspired by the creative ideas our young people came up with to help fight obesity and encourage healthier living.”

The HEROES service-learning projects are implemented during the 2009 Semester of Service and will culminate on YSA’s 21st Global Youth Service Day (GYSD), April 24-26, 2009. GYSD provides an excellent opportunity for students to include their projects in a larger, international youth service movement that seeks to improve communities in all 50 states and in more than 100 countries.

YSA and UnitedHealth Group will offer a second round of UnitedHealth HEROES service-learning grants on August 1, 2009 for projects occurring during the 2009-2010 school year. For more information about the UnitedHealth HEROES program and upcoming grant deadlines, Global Youth Service Day, or to view the complete list of award winners, visit www.YSA.org.