This increase in turnout represented a break in the declining youth turnout rate, a problem that has threatened our democracy for over thirty years. With a newly engaged population of young people we have an opportunity to reenergize civic life in America.

To build on the success of 2004, promote new and creative approaches to get young people to register to vote, and keep the youth vote in the spotlight in 2006, The George Washington University?s Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) announces a nonpartisan national competition to identify and support innovative and replicable strategies for registering young people ages 18 to 29. Funding for this competition is provided through a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

GSPM invites proposals from nonpartisan 501(c)3 organizations interested in testing voter registration efforts with young voters. A bipartisan selection committee made up of members of GSPM?s advisory committee will choose a group of eight to ten winners working with different subsets of the youth population and employing diverse, but strictly nonpartisan, registration methods. Applicants are eligible for funds of $50,000 up to $250,000 to implement their projects in the 2006 election cycle.

<a href="http://www.youngvoterstrategies.org/">http://www.youngvoterstrategies.org/</a>

Prison and Health Care – You can view the forum on prison health issues or read the transcript on the kaisernetwork.org site. “In Need of Correction: The Prison Cycle of Health Care,” was presented by the American Public Health Association and the Community Voices Initiative in Washington, D.C. and highlighted research that appeared in the October issue of The American Journal of Public Health.

http://www.ajph.org/ or

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm?display=detail&hc=1515

Volunteers Needed, The 3rd Philly Fit Bash – January 29th 2006 1 ?5pm

Volunteers needed: The 3rd Philly Fit Bash ? the largest gathering of everything health and fitness – will be held at the Spring Mill Manor, 173 Jacksonville Road, Ivyland, PA 18974.

This mini-expo will be fun for the entire family ? Radio Disney will conduct a Kids Fitness Concert, Live Non Stop Workout Demos including Tae Bo, Pilates, Yoga, and Aerobics will be conducted, Sports Medicine Clinic lectures will be hosted by Consultants from the 76ers and Eagles, and participants can experience Our De-Stressing Room. Meet the 76ers Dance Team, and the Philadelphia Phoenix Women?s Pro Football Team. Go to PhillyFit.com and click on the PhillyFit Bash to see the flyer.

Volunteers are needed during the expo to handle a variety of task, including greeters and directing attendees, assisting with vendor organization, acting as workshop assistants for kids and adults demos, helping with registration and numerous other jobs to help the expo run as smoothly as possible.

Volunteers are needed to cover as many shifts as possible between 9am ? 7pm. All volunteers will be receive a free Philly Fit t-shirts, free food for the day. To sign up as a volunteer, please leave a message at Philly Fit Magazine at 215-396-0268 or contact us by email at phillyfitvolunteers@yahoo.com

X-TREME HEALTH YOUTH CONFERENCE 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster PA

Conference Goal

Student Health OUTreach of Lancaster County (SHOUT) is invested teens and adults working together to reduce teen pregnancy in Lancaster County by providing information, advocacy and comprehensive education for youth on wellness and healthy relationships.

Drawing on the strength of the SHOUT mission, we plan to provide a day of learning, sharing and data-gathering for both teens and adults simultaneously. As this approach has brought us to higher levels of learning and understanding at our general meetings and events, so it will be expanded upon at this unique youth/adult collaborative conference.

? Workshops may be proposed for teens only, for adults only, or for a teen/adult combined audience.
? Presenters may propose more than one workshop or the same workshop for different audiences.
? Workshops will be offered in one-hour time slots.
? Continuing education credits will be offered for professional workshops (pending approval).

Successful proposals will be for workshops which are interactive and science-based. Preference will be given to proposals that meet the needs of diverse populations and that address the following topic areas:

? prevention of major health obstacles (including teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, drug and alcohol abuse and sexual assault)
? the promotion of proven well-being indicators (including leadership skills, decision-making skills, after-school programs, traditional and alternative health initiatives and mentoring relationships)

TO SUBMIT A PROPOSAL

Send the following to Anita Pilkerton-Plumb at onewhoplantsseeds@yahoo.com All proposals must be received by 5pm on Friday, January 20, 2006.

1. Name, title, agency, address, phone and email of lead and co-presenter(s).
2. Title of workshop presentation as it would appear in conference brochure.
3. Brief workshop description (50 words or less) as it would appear in brochure.
4. Specific learning objectives for your workshop.
5. Specify if your workshop is for teens, adults, or teens/adults combined.
6. Audio/visual requirements.
7. Maximum number of participants allowed for your session.

University of Missouri
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY
Winter 2006

Courses 1, Building Communities from the Grassroots and Course 2, Empowering Communities for the Future will be taught in the Winter 2006 Community Development Academy coming Monday, March 27-Friday, March 31, 2006, at the Mercy Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The Community Development Academy is a series of three courses offered by the University of Missouri Community Development Program focusing on hands-on activities to develop skills needed for effective work in community settings. Find more information, check out our website at http://www.ssu.missouri.edu/commdev/cda/cda.htm.

Online registration is available at http://muconf.missouri.edu/CommDevelopmentAcademy/. For more information, contact Steve Jeanetta at JeanettaS@missouri.edu.

February 17-19, 2006
Portland, Oregon

Today, some parts of the world enjoy an unprecedented abundance of food, medicines, and material comforts. Life expectancy has soared in developed nations, and previously rampant infectious diseases have become rare in much of the world.

We believe that all people deserve to share this standard of health. The constitution of the World Health Organization states, ?the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being.? However, enormous disparities in health exist throughout the world; rates of mortality and disease remain alarmingly high in many populations both domestically and worldwide.

Local and global economic policies play a primary role in the distribution of the world?s available resources to fight disease and improve health. The intersection of economics and health create a critical juncture in the fight for global health equality-a place where economic incentive and moral imperative meet. If we are to satisfy the human right to health on a global scale, clinicians, scientists, activists and citizens must create multidisciplinary alliances to address economic and biologic problems.

To actively promote examination of these issues, and to foster the development of local partnership and cooperation that can lead to action, the Global Health Alliance, a student group based at Oregon Health & Science University, will host the 4th Annual Western Regional International Health Conference, entitled “Health, Human Rights and Economics: the Value of Human Life.? We invite you to join us February 17-19, 2006. Through the education of students and professionals, and by building regional connections, we will strengthen and sustain our work in the world.

http://www.ohsu.edu/som/gha/conference.htm

15th Annual International Conference
April 26 – 29, 2006, Chicago, IL

Headquarter Hotel: Wyndham Chicago
633 North Saint Clair Street
(East of North Michigan Avenue)

Learn about best practices, innovative programs and research. Registration will begin in January 06.

http://www.thesah.org/

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) is a proud organizational partner of this new journal. Editor-in-Chief Carmen Patrick is a member of the CCPH board of directors. Please share the details and call for papers below with your students and encourage them to get involved as authors and readers!

Health Students Taking Action Together has announced the launch of Context, the only peer-reviewed electronic journal for health professional students engaged in their communities. The journal will connect students across the United States and Canada working to improve the health of our communities. In addition, the journal will recognize insightful, well-designed evaluations of student initiated programs from a variety of perspectives. Context will be published by HealthSTAT in partnership with the Student Health Alliance. The online journal is accepting submissions and will accept rolling applications for editors and peer reviewers. Context will begin publication April 2006.

The first issue of Context (http://www.contextjournal.org) will include original articles about program evaluation, policy research, patient empowerment and community-based research and partnerships. Contributors will include graduate-level students of any discipline who are enrolled in universities and colleges across the United States and Canada.

“Context provides a forum for presentation and consideration of health science student community activities and best practices. Context will make the latest research accessible to health professional students and others who can put it to work and improve Americans’ health,” comments HealthSTAT Advisor, Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, MD MPH Vice President for Academic Health Affairs, Emory University and former CDC Director.

Graduate-level students may submit manuscripts online at http://www.contextjournal.org. Manuscripts will be accepted on a rolling basis; however, only those received by January 31, 2006 are guaranteed consideration for publication in the inaugural edition of Context Journal.

A rigorous peer review process will help ensure that articles meet high standards in terms of theoretical and methodological rigor. As an open access journal, Context will offer the health professional community the opportunity to make research results freely available immediately on publication, and permanently available in public archives. Subscribers to Context will benefit from the e-journal’s multimedia capabilities and all articles and transcripts will be available for download. The journal will be published bi-annually. To submit a manuscript or to sign up for a free subscription, visit http://www.contextjournal.org

Context will connect students across the United States and Canada. This e-journal provides a unique opportunity for students to share results and ideas with health professionals to improve the health of our communities,” said Carmen Patrick, Emory University medical student, Founding Editor-in-Chief of Context and Community-Campus Partnerships for Health board member.

The inaugural Editorial Board of Context Journal includes six health professional students representing four disciplines and six institutions: Carmen Patrick, Editor-in-Chief, Emory University School of Medicine; Hugo Javier Aparicio, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Euna M. August, MPH, University of South Florida (USF), PhD candidate, Department of Community & Family Health; John R. Casey, Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine; Cheryl Hunchak, M.D. Harvard School of Public Health, MPH candidate Department of International Health; Pamela Valera, MSW, University of South Carolina, PhD candidate College of Social Work.

Funding for Context has been provided by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Marcus Foundation, The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, The Young Family Foundation, Emory University, the National Nurses Association and numerous individual donors.

HealthSTAT (http://www.hstatweb.org) is a Georgia based, inter-professional, student-led, non-profit organization founded in 2001 to increase civic engagement among health professional students and develop emerging health leaders.

The Student Health Alliance (http://www.phsc.org/sha.html)(SHA) is a multidisciplinary coalition of students dedicated to improving the health of our communities and the effectiveness of our health system by fostering and promoting collaborative work focusing on prevention and achieving our Nation’s health objectives.

When: April 1-2, 2006
Where: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Theme: “Empowering Communities to Bridge Health Divides”
Who should attend? Anyone interested in medicine, health education, health promotion, public health, international health, international service, nonprofits, or eye care

Conference Goal: To empower conference attendees to identify health needs and to develop solutions to improve access to care for the medically underserved

http://www.uniteforsight.org/2006_annual_conference.php

Conference Highlights: A Few of the Scheduled Presentations
Complete schedule can be seen at http://www.uniteforsight.org/2006_annual_conference.php

Keynote Address: “Environment, Behavior and Health: Societies Matter” Al Sommer, MD, MHS
“The Challenges of Pediatric AIDS in Africa – A Lesson in Hope and Humanity” Shaffiq Essajee, BMBCh
“Global Health Governance in a Time of Rapid Change: Opportunities and Concerns” Derek Yach, MBChB, MPH
“Millenium Development Goals,” Josh Ruxin, MPH, PhD
“Community Approaches to Achieve Global Health Goals,”Jacob Kumaresan, MD, MPH, Dr.PH
“Women’s Health: A Global Overview,” Allan Rosenfield, MD
“Strengthening Community Capacity for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health,” Charles MacCormack
“Gender Disparities in Blindness and Visual Impairment” Ilene Gipson, PhD
“Update on Vision 2020: the Right to Sight,” Louis Pizzarello, MD
“Infinite Vision – The Story of Dr. V(enkataswamy) and the Aravind Eye Care System,” Pavithra Krishnan
“Social Entrepreneurship and Presbyopia” Jordan Kassalow, OD, MPH

The Outreach Scholarship 2006 Conference, hosted by Ohio State from October 8-10 next year, is seeking proposals for posters and presentations. The conference theme is “Engagement through the Disciplines,” addressing the unique approaches to community-academic scholarly outreach through the discipline lens. Proposals are due by February 24, 2006. Complete information and online submission is available at http://www.outreachscholarship.org.

DEADLINE: All proposals must be received no later than February 1, 2006.

The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants totaling $30,000 in 2006 to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress.

The competition is open to individuals with a serious interest in studying Congress. Political scientists, historians, biographers, scholars of public administration or American studies, and journalists are among those eligible. The Center encourages graduate students who have successfully defended their dissertation prospectus to apply and awards a significant portion of the funds for dissertation research.

The awards program does not fund undergraduate or pre-Ph.D. study. Organizations are not eligible. Research teams of two or more individuals are eligible.

There is no standard application form. Applicants are responsible for showing the relationship between their work and the awards program guidelines. Applications are accepted at any time. Incomplete applications will NOT be forwarded to the screening committee for consideration.

All application materials must be received no later than February 1, 2006. Awards will be announced in March 2006. Complete information about eligibility and application procedures may be found at The Center’s Web site: <a href="http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm">http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm</a>. Frank Mackaman is the program officer — mailto:fmackaman@dirksencenter.org.

The Center, named for the late Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen, is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to the study of Congress and its leaders. Since 1978, the Congressional Research Awards (formerly the Congressional Research Grants) program has paid out $650,000 to support 337 projects.

The Dirksen Congressional Center
2815 Broadway
Pekin, Illinois 61554

For more information about the Congressional Research Awards, contact Frank Mackaman at: fmackaman@dirksencenter.org or 309.347.7113.

The Captain Planet Foundation funds hands-on environmental projects to encourage youth around the world to work individually and collectively to solve environmental problems in their neighborhoods and communities.

Eligibility: Schools and non-profits.
Maximum Award: $2500.
Deadline: December 31, 2005

<a href="http://www.captainplanetfdn.org/aboutUs.html#policies_grant_guidelines">http://www.captainplanetfdn.org/aboutUs.html#policies_grant_guidelines</a>

The State Farm Companies Foundation offers grants to K-12 public schools for projects focused on one of three areas: improving teacher quality, integrating service-learning into classroom curriculum, and incorporating established criteria to improve the effectiveness of school systems.

Eligibility: K-12 public schools, nonprofit organizations.
Maximum Award: varied.
Deadline: January 15, 2006.

<a href="http://www.statefarm.com/foundati/foundati.htm">http://www.statefarm.com/foundati/foundati.htm</a>

The National School and Business Partnerships Award supports and recognizes the efforts of schools and businesses that partner to improve the academic, social, or physical well-being of students.

Eligibility: Partnerships involving kindergarten through 12th grade public schools and/or school districts and businesses.
Maximum Award: $10,000.
Deadline: January 30, 2006.

<a href="
http://www.corpschoolpartners.org/award.shtml">http://www.corpschoolpartners.org/award.shtml</a>

InvenTeams is the Lemelson-MIT Program’s national initiative to foster inventiveness among high school students. Teams, composed of students, teacher(s) and mentors, identify a problem in their community to address with an invention.

Eligibility: Teams, composed of high school students, teacher(s) and mentors.
Maximum award: $10,000 ($2,000 can be a teacher stipend)
Deadline: May 2006 (for grants awarded for the 2006-2007 academic year).

<a href="http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/">http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/</a>

The Shalom Center seeks an effective activist organizer with knowledge of Jewish and other wisdom traditions to organize in the Jewish and other religious and some secular communities for our "Beyond Oil" project. For a detailed description of the project,go to: <a href="http://www.shalomctr.org/node/873">http://www.shalomctr.org/node/873</a>

This requires working with congregations and shaping conferences of religious and secular folks — to develop liturgies, sermons, social action, and ongoing covenant-groups to encourage efforts to reduce the use of oil/ and gasoline by households, congregants, the congregation as a body, and the society as a whole — by making an impact on personal behavior and public policy.

Applicants should Email Rabbi Arthur Waskow at — awaskow@aol.com with "Beyond Oil organizer" in the subject line. Please do NOT telephone. The Shalom Center <a href="http://www.shalomctr.org">http://www.shalomctr.org</a> voices a new prophetic agenda in Jewish, multireligious, and American life. To receive the weekly on-line Shalom Report, — <a href="http://www.shalomctr.org/subscribe">http://www.shalomctr.org/subscribe</a>

The Food Stamp Enrollment Campaign, now in its fourth year, is an initiative that began with multiple-year USDA funding. The Campaign manager will be responsible for developing and coordinating a growing partnership at several County Assistance Offices where food stamps are administered in Philadelphia. Additional responsibilities include overseeing the many facets of the Coalition?s ongoing food stamp work: volunteer training; outreach (including a transit media campaign); a Food Stamp Hotline; analysis of campaign data; and food stamp advocacy work, coordinated through several city-wide task forces. The successful candidate will possess a high level of commitment and share the Coalition?s mission and vision to increase participation and reduce the barriers to enrollment in the Food Stamp Program. Must have the following: a minimum of five years experience in management; grant management skills; demonstrated ability to work within public policy, media and advocacy communities; basic computer skills; bachelor’s degree. Graduate degree in Social Work, Public Administration, or related fields strongly preferred. Salary commensurate with skills and education.

The Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger fights hunger in Southeastern Pennsylvania through education, outreach, and advocacy. We aim to empower emergency food providers, to inform and mobilize concerned citizens, and to help shape public policy.

The Coalition?s offices are located in the SHARE warehouse where five fulltime staff, several AmeriCorps VISTA members, and many volunteers carry out the work. This vibrant, fast-paced staff maximizes their impact on hunger in the Philadelphia region by hard work, creativity, facilitating collaboration, and a strategic use of resources.

Please visit our website to learn more about the Coalition at <a href="http://www.hungercoalition.org">http://www.hungercoalition.org</a>

Send resume to:

Tanya Sen, Program Manager
tsen@hungercoalition.org
Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger
2901 W. Hunting Park Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19129

Searching for Applicants

Do you know a Young Eco-Hero? Are you a Young Eco-Hero?

Please help spread the word! Action For Nature seeks applications from 8 to 16 year olds worldwide for its 2006 International Young Eco-Hero Awards Program. The award recognizes the individual accomplishments of young people who have carried out environmental action projects which concern environmental action, advocacy, environmental health, or protection of the natural world.

Cash prizes up to $500 will be awarded. Applications must be postmarked by February 28, 2006.

To print out award flyers, for guidelines, an application form, or to find out about winners for the last three years, click or copy and paste:
<a href="http://www.actionfornature.org/eco-hero/ecoheroawards.html">http://www.actionfornature.org/eco-hero/ecoheroawards.html</a>

Past Eco-Heroes have spoken out and influenced others about environmental preservation and health; worked on forestry and habitat management; researched the flight patterns of migratory birds, and organized fundraising projects for environmental organizations. One young Eco-Hero successfully pressured domestic airline companies to improve the drinking water on planes.

Based in San Francisco, California, Action For Nature is a non-profit that encourages young people to take personal action to nurture and protect a healthy environment on which all life depends.

Become an ECO-HERO, or send one to us!

Contact information:

Action For Nature
2269 Chestnut St., #263
San Francisco, CA 94123
<a href="http://www.actionfornature.org">http://www.actionfornature.org</a>
awards@actionfornature.org

Website: http://www.ServiceLearn.com ? Email: Info@ServiceLearn.com

Dear Educator:

The Service-Learning Student?s Guide & Journal is the most widely used Service-Learning book in the country, helping students to raise the bar ? guiding and inspiring them to make Service-Learning a more meaningful, educational, and character-building experience.

Tens of thousands of student in over 600 schools and after school programs, in all 50 states, are using this interactive resource to help organize their Service-Learning project, improve their thinking, writing, research, collaborative, and communication skills ? and this book will assist you in documenting the success of the Service-Learning program.

Emily Lopez, Director of the New Beginnings Program in New York City, comments that: The Service Learning Journals are great! The journals provided direction for our students and the students were able to see their progress. As for the service providers (the teachers and case managers), they were able to track and assess the academic and social growth of their students. A very valuable tool for the educational development for our youth!

This book uses extensive journals for creative composition, charts to verify the student?s service, graphs to measure the student?s progress, and directed questions to elicit positive personal reflection from the student. There are now three editions of the Service-Learning – Student?s Guide & Journal: Elementary School, Middle & High School, and Higher Education (the Higher Education Edition is perfect for high school seniors).

See pages from the books and learn more at: http://www.ServiceLearn.com

To help you get set for your Spring Service-Learning projects we are offering free shipping when you place your order before February 1, 2006.

Please feel free to call me with your questions and comments.

Wishing you great success with your Service-Learning program,

Robert Schoenfeld
5235 S. Graham St. Seattle, WA 98118
Tel: 206-722-1988 ? Fax: 206-721-3200
Email: Info@ServiceLearn.com ? Website: http://www.ServiceLearn.com