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Introducing SLICE: Service-Learning Ideas and Curricular Examples

SLICE is the newest tool from Learn and Serve America's National Service-Learning Clearinghouse to help make service-learning easier and better. It's an easy-to-search database full of hundreds of high quality service-learning lesson plans, syllabi, and project ideas. Get teaching ideas or submit your own today!

Visit the SLICE Resource Center at

http://www.servicelearning.org/slice/index.php

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.

The Clearinghouse maintains a website with timely information and relevant resources to support service-learning programs, practitioners, and researchers. The Clearinghouse operates national email discussion lists for K-12, cbo, tribes and territories, and higher education service-learning to encourage discussion and e xchange of ideas. The Clearinghouse also maintains an ever-growing library collection that is available to Learn and Serve America grantees and subgrantees.

Open Meadows Foundation Grants (Deadline: August 15)

Open Meadows Foundation is a grant-making organization for projects that are led by and benefit women and girls. It offers grants up to $2,000 to projects that: are designed and implemented by women and girls; reflect the diversity of the community served by the project in both its leadership and organization; promote building community power; promote racial, social, economic and environmental justice; have limited financial access or have encountered obstacles in their search for funding. Organizational budget should not exceed $150,000.

For more information please visit Open Meadows Foundation at http://www.openmeadows.org/

RESIST Funds Progressive Grassroots Groups (Deadline: August 1)

RESIST provides grants and loans to grassroots groups engaged in activist organizing and educational work within movements for social change. RESIST supports strategies that build community, encourage collaborations with other organizations, increase skills and access to resources, and produce leadership from the constituency being most directly affected. High priority is given to groups that fall outside of mainstream funding sources.

A sample of RESIST's interests include: community organizing and anti-racism projects, economic and environmental justice, civil rights, progressive media, and p eace/anti-militarism. The upcoming application deadlines for general support grants, accessibility grants, and loans are August 1 and October 3, 2008. Emergency grant requests may be submitted at any time. Visit the RESIST website for details on each of RESIST's grant programs. http://www.resistinc.org/

Join the Youth Development and Peace Network

Youth Development and Peace Network!

YPD UC, a TakingITGlobal partner supported by the World Bank wants to establish a network for youth. YDP (Youth Development and Peace Network) is an informal and inclusive network of youth organizations operating at the local, regional, and global levels, focusing on development and poverty eradication.

60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Celebrate: 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Sixty years ago, nations of the world joined together in recognizing that all peoples, in all nations, are free and equal regardless of race, religion, economic status, age, gender or other personal characteristics. Through the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the United Nations brought into being the first international document recognizing human rights as the foundation of peace, justice and freedom in the world.
The Universal Declaration outlines 30 basic rights essential for all human beings to achieve their full potential and to live a life free of fear and want. It was a unique approach that developed from the world saying 'never again' to the horrific events of World War Two, a war that brought a scale of atrocity never previously witnessed. The global death count is estimated to have been more than 50 million. War crimes were widespread: from the infamous Holocaust in which Nazi Germany sought to eliminate 'undesirables' such as Jews, Poles, Slavs, Roma, Sinti, the mentally and physically disabled, homosexuals and other persons, to the use of sex slaves, otherwise known as 'comfort women', by Japanese soldiers. Labour camps were used throughout the world and, disturbingly, World War Two brought the first testing of biological warfare by Japan and the use of atomic bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima by the United States of America.

Read More ...

World Population Day

Today, the world observes U.N. World Population Day with the theme, "Family Planning: It's a Right; Let's Make it Real".

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, commemorated the day by stating that family planning "is essential to women's empowerment and gender equality. When a woman can plan her family, she can plan the rest of her life.

To learn more about UNFPA you can visit their organizational page or the featured theme on World Population.

Public Service Fellows Program

THE PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

As we enter a new century, America faces a new set of great challenges: fighting a war against terrorism, prospering in the global economy, expanding opportunity by improving schools and health care. America has always succeeded as a result of what we do as individuals, but more important, what we do together as a nation. The Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was created because now, more than ever, we need the best and brightest to work on our behalf to address our common challenges. The Partnership is dedicated to bringing the best to our cause and building an innovative and effective government workforce to serve our country.

Now is the time to focus on government’s management and talent needs and usher in a new era of public service. Government faces an unprecedented brain drain as the baby boomer generation nears retirement, and insufficient interest in public service has left us with an inadequate pipeline of talent to replace these imminent losses.

To achieve this mission, the Partnership:

• Helps raise awareness and improve public attitudes about government service

• Inspires people to serve through outreach to college campuses and other key talent groups

• Provides hands-on assistance to federal agencies from both in-house experts and private sector partners

• Advocates for needed legislative reforms

• Generates thought-provoking research on the workforce challenges facing the federal government

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE PARTNERSHIP

Through an established fellowship program – the Public Service Fellows Program – the Partnership for Public Service offers a unique opportunity for public-service minded students and graduates to gain a new appreciation and understanding of public service

Please visit www.ourpublicservice.org to find out more about the Partnership.

Service Nation

Imagine citizens across the country coming together to serve, to volunteer, and to work together to create a stronger America, where communities unite to address our greatest challenges, from environmental disasters to high school dropout rates to endemic poverty. That's the vision of ServiceNation, a campaign that's working to expand service opportunities for every America, and promote a culture of citizenship and service that will help America solve problems. Already, ServiceNation has pulled together a coalition of more than 100 organizations, which collectively represent more than 75 million Americans.

The campaign will formally launch in New York City, with a Presidential Forum on September 11, and a leadership Summit on Septemb er 12. The Summit will call for a new era of service in America, and ratify both a policy proposal and a Declaration of Service (a document which all Americans can sign to declare their commitment to citizen service).

ServiceNation is also staging a Day of Action on September 27, to engage tens of thousands of Americans in hundreds of events across our country, both to promote the goals of ServiceNation and ignite a grassroots campaign to make them happen.

The ServiceNation vision is ambitious - but the power of ordinary citizens makes it possible. You can learn all about ServiceNation, sign up for news updates, and get info on the Summit and Day of Action, and much, much more, at http://servicenation.org

Congratulations ISC Macedonia!

Many of you know by now that I often have the privilege of working with the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC). I've been on a variety of projects with them over the past few years and have spent quite a lot of time working for them in Macedonia on their Civil Society Strengthening Project (CSSP).

CSSP is a three year program that seeks to make Macedonia’s civil society a more effective, influential, and permanent partner alongside government and businesses in shaping the country’s present and future. CSSP’s approach is to support both a focused group of Leader NGOs and the sector as a whole in order to foster a better environment and increase resources for civil society, help NGOs achieve concrete results on issues that matter to citizens, and improve the sector’s image and understanding.

The photo below is from an event earlier this month celebrating the many amazing accomplishments of the program's first three years. Fortunately, the project has been extended and I'm looking forward to being with my friends and colleagues again soon!

Changing the Game: A Fundraising Resource

A few months ago, I was approached by Y-PEER, the “Youth Peer Education Network,” to write a lengthy fundraising piece for their international newsletter. The piece was published and sent to youth and youth-serving organizations around the world. Download a PDF version of "Changing the Game: Developing A Positive Fundraising Mindset" below.

Y_PEER_NL9_Final.pdf

Y-Peer is an international youth to youth based network pioneered by UNFPA and supported on regional and national levels by number of partners (MTV-Staying Alive, FHI, YouthNET, USAID, UNAIDS, WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO, WB, UNODC); it includes more than 500 non-profit organizations and governmental institutions. The Y Peer Network works with youth from Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, North and East Africa, and was recently initiated in Brazil; more than 5,000 members from 36 countries are linked.

Background:
Y-PEER is an approach aiming at promoting youth participation in sexual and reproductive health issues at national and regional levels and advocating for increased access to information, knowledge, and services on sexual and reproductive health, strengthening the knowledge base of peer educators and trainers of trainers, promoting communication and experiences between global Y-Peer network, contributing to national strategies development and improving training resources for peer educators.

Corporation For National And Community Service Unveils Updated Resource Center Website

The Resource Center, a website operated by the Corporation for National and Community Service is an online “one-stop shop” for tools to strengthen volunteer and service programs and serves as a portal where national service grantees and any organization that serves the public can quickly and easily find more than 2,500 free downloadable tools, e-courses, and other useful resources and materia ls on hundreds of topics of interest to nonprofit and volunteer leaders.

The site incorporates cutting-edge technology including a new content management system that allows for greater social networking and web 2.0 capabilities and serves as a communications hub allowing for increased interaction among users for the national service and volunteer field.

The new home page features quick links to e-newsletters, online courses, the lending library, sample forms, e-mail discussion lists, effective practices, and the conference and training calendar.

Please click here to visit the Resource Center.

Human Rights Watch Presents "Youth Producing Change"

Human Rights Watch and Adobe Youth Voices will present the first ever program of youth-produced films on human rights at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.

Ten young filmmakers will be traveling to attend the festival from as far as Canada and South Africa. Human Rights Watch's International Film Festival has become a leading venue for distinguished fiction, documentary and animated films and videos with a distinctive human rights theme.

For more information, please click here.

Mentor Macedonia

In late 2007 and earlier this year, Common Ground designed and delivered a specific series of mentor trainings for 20 nominees in Macedonia, selected specifically for their expertise, experience, and passion. The first training in November introduced the participants to the state-of-the-art in school-based mentoring (SBM) research and practice; while improving the quality of the mentoring services currently being provided by some of the participants; better equipping those responsible for teacher training to incorporate mentoring/tutoring best practices into their methodology courses; and further improving the work being implemented through the Roma Education Program (REP).

For two months following the first training, participants integrated what they learned—the skills, methodologies, and new approaches to mentoring—into their work. The second training, in January 2008, built upon their practical experiences through a highly-structured training of trainers program. By the end of the second training, all of the participants understood the key components of effective school-based mentoring (and how it differs from tutoring) as well as best and “promising” practices. They were also able to effectively advocate the value and potential outcomes of mentoring to their peers within various educational and political environments.

My friends at World Learning and FOSIM sent me an article about our work which ran in the local Skopje papers. It has been translated above for you.

My First Vacation in Years!

Alright, so if you know me at all, you know I travel for business all the time—more than 65,000 miles already in 2008!

You'll understand then when I tell you that it is rare when I'm not traveling for work that you will find me anywhere but in my backyard. But as this is a holiday weekend in the U.S. and two of my closest friends were taking a spontaneous vacation across the pond, how could I say no to a weekend in Ireland!

I've never been to the island of Ireland before (Éire), though it is a country with an amazing history and tremendous impact around the world. On this trip, we'll be staying with our friends Coilin and Del and we have no plan! I can't believe it! We are going to get there and decide what to do next. We have some ideas, I asked around a bit. But for the most part, we're going to follow the wind! I can't wait.

Where Do The Presidential Candidates Stand On Children?

The Brookings Institute has released a new chart that outlines where Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain stand on critical topics and policy issues related to children. Ranging from issues on Preschool, Child Safety, and Foster Care, this comprehensive table provides an opportunity to become more informed on the candidates and what they plan to do for children.

To review the information, please click here.

Congratulations DJ!

I can't believe how fast time flies! How is it possible that I could be old enough to have a nephew graduating from high school?

Nonetheless, DJ Fox is the newest graduate of Warrensburg High School, in Warrensburg, MO. DJ is an amazing kid—an award-winning choral singer with a great smile and a huge heart. He'll be attending the University of Central Missouri next year.

I had the chance to hang out with him and the whole family in Missouri last weekend. I managed to get my butt kicked playing the sports games on the WII but I held my own with Guitar Hero. My parents, brother, DJ and I also managed to eat at my favorite Kansas City BBQ joint, Jack Stack! Of course, I had to bring sauce and burnt ends home for my friends!

United Planet

United Planet (UP) is an international non-profit organization dedicated to fostering cross-cultural understanding and supporting communities in need worldwide. United Planet’s unique Quest program combines meaningful community service, language instruction, cultural activities, and learning excursions.

Volunteers of all ages, skill and nationalities are invited to join in 50 countries worldwide on either a short term (1-2 weeks) or long-term (up to 52 weeks) quest. For details of quests in places such as Ecuador and Ghana and to find out more about the program, please click here.

The Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Awards (Deadline: June 16)

The Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Awards program distributes cash grants to outstanding grassroots organizations in the United States that have moved beyond charity to creating change in their communities.

Organizations selected as Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Award winners are judged outstanding for their innovative and creative approaches to fighting domestic hunger and poverty by empowering people and building self-reliance.

For more information and to apply, please click here.

The 2008 Children’s Budget

First Focus has released Children’s Budget 2008, an extensive guide outlining federal spending on children.

The study shows that in the past five years, only ONE PENNY of every new, non-defense dollar spent by the federal government went to children’s programs. First Focus calls this “an invaluable resource for all those seeking to improve the lives of America’s youth.” Access the guide at: http://www.firstfocus.net/Download/CBook.pdf

Provide Help to Children and Families Affected by the Myanmar Cyclone

With the death toll continuing to rise at over 22,000 victims and one million people left homeless, Save the Children has launched critical relief efforts in the five regions hardest hit by the storm. Immediate needs of children and families include: food, plastic sheeting for shelter, blankets, tents and water purification tablets for clean water.

While emergency distributions have already begun, there is still opportunity to help as relief efforts will continue in the days ahead as the situation and needs are assessed. To learn more about the crisis and your opportunity to get involved, please click here.