The American Historical Association Beveridge Family Teaching Prize recognizes excellence and innovation in elementary, middle school, and secondary history teaching, including career contributions and specific initiatives. Maximum award: $1,500. Eligibility: K-12 teachers. Deadline: March 15, 2011.

http://www.historians.org/teaching/Beveridge.htm

A new study from the Council of the Great City Schools attempts to pull together much of the disparate research on African-American male achievement. Black males continue to perform lower than their peers on almost every indicator, and to date there has been no concerted national focus on the education and social outcomes of black males specifically. As the authors point out, there is no specified office within the U.S. Department of Education; no primary federal source to collect and maintain data on African-American males; no legislative projects within local, state, or national budgets; no national policy that would drive resources or attention to the issue; and no federal education program on the educational status of black males. The report examines six areas regarding black males: readiness to learn; achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP); achievement on the NAEP in selected urban school districts; college and career preparedness; school experience; and postsecondary experience. The report cites disturbing statistics, such as that black boys drop out of high school at approximately twice the rate of white boys, their SAT scores are on average 104 points lower, and they represented five percent of college students in 2008. On the NAEP in 2009, black boys lagged behind Latinos of both genders, and fell behind white boys by at least 30 points, a gap equal to three academic grades.

See the report: http://www.cgcs.org/publications/achievement.aspx

Through the National Grassroots Grant Program, Ben & Jerry’s Foundations supports nonprofit community organizations throughout the United States that bring about progressive social change by addressing the underlying conditions of societal and environmental problems. The broad goals of the program are to further social justice, protect the environment, and support sustainable food systems. Grants of up to $15,000 are provided to grassroots, constituent-led organizations that are using community organizing strategies to accomplish their goals as well as organizations that provide technical support and/or resources to such groups. The Foundation does not make grants to support social service programs. Letters of interest may be submitted at any time.

http://www.benandjerrysfoundation.org/the-national-grassroots-grant-program.html

On November 11, a coalition of education and service-learning organizations launched Engaged Education Now, a campaign to improve academic achievement and school success by ensuring that all students have the opportunity to participate in service-learning. “We intend to unite teachers, students, families, businesses, and organizations across the United States to support engaged learning,” said Jim Kielsmeier, NYLC’s founder, CEO, and president. Kielsmeier is leading this new effort to mobilize support for engaged learning strategies within federal education legislation and policy, particularly the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. “We will work together to create a unified vision of the role service-learning plays in engaging all students and enhancing academic achievement,” said Kielsmeier. Engaged Education Now co-hosts include American Association of School Administrators, Campus Compact, Common Cents, NYLC, Points of Light Institute and HandsOn Network, State Farm Insurance, the University of Minnesota, and Youth Service America. An informational webinar on the campaign is scheduled for November 17, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Central Time. Register for the webinar today at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/EngagedEducationNow

To learn more about this effort and sign up to be involved, visit http://www.nylc.org/een

Special Olympics is partnering with Youth Service America to offer Get Into It grants that bring together students of all abilities to fight childhood obesity in their schools and communities. The Get Into It curriculum helps to develop a service-learning program that gives youth the opportunity to make a change.

The program awards grants of $500 or $1,000 to help youth create and implement local, hands-on programs to fight childhood obesity. The application must be completed by a teacher and a unified pair of students (one with and one without an intellectual disability).

Get Into It grant projects launch on Spread the Word to End the Word Day (March 2, 2011) and culminate on Global Youth Service Day (April 15-17, 2011). Each grant also engages participating youth in service-learning, an effective teaching and learning strategy that supports student learning, academic achievement and workplace readiness.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia are eligible to apply.  Applications must be submitted by midnight, January 19, 2011

Special Olympics will host two application training webinars, December 2, 2010 at 3:00 pm EST and January 4, 2011 at 5:00 pm EST, for applicants to learn more about developing a successful project. To register for either webinar fill out the form here.

To learn more about this opportunity, start using the resources offered, and view the online application, visit http://www.YSA.org/getintoit

The Department of Education is pleased to announce the availability of the Learn and Serve K-12 School-Based federal grant funding for the fiscal Year 2010-2011.  The Learn and  Serve America: K-12 School-Based Program is a component of the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993 and it provides federal funds through the Pennsylvania Department of Education to public schools and community based organizations for the development and/or expansion of local service learning programs.

The purpose of this Request-For-Application is to provide school districts, charter schools, career and technology schools, intermediate units and community based organizations with an opportunity to compete for monies for a service learning project that creates a partnership between a LEA/CBO and the diverse community that it serves.  The grants will be made to implement a student service learning program.  All applications are due by 4:00p.m. on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 5th floor, 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA  17126-0333.  Faxed and emailed applications will NOT be accepted.

http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/Learn_and_Serve_America/7471/

For clarification, the earlier proposed deadline of November 12th was included in the original announcement in error and the actual deadline as shown later in the PENN*LINK article and below is indeed Wednesday, December 15, 2010.

Preliminary questions could be directed to Parke Brown at the Center for Schools and Communities at pbrown@csc.csiu.org or (717) 763-1661, ext. 187.

Wouldn’t you love the opportunity to complete college course work, increase your salary and envision a
career in afterschool and youth programs?

A T.E.A.C.H. scholarship may be right for you! The prospect of college classes, in addition to working and juggling family commitments, may seem like an impossible dream, but T.E.A.C.H. can make that dream come true for professionals like you!

T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Pennsylvania is a licensed program of Child Care Services Association

Eligible applicants must:
– be a resident of Pennsylvania
– work at least 15 hours per week in a DPW certified schoolage child care program (Keystone STAR 1 or above), or in a self-regulated afterschool/youth development program*
– be employed by your program for at least one year and maintain employment for a minimum of nine months
– be eligible for college or university admission
– earn less than $15 per hour for direct care staff and earn less than $19 per hour for program directors/coordinators
– possess a commitment to remain in the afterschool/youth development field
– have an interest in pursuing approved coursework at a participating institution.
* A self-regulated program is one that is licensed, accredited, or certified by a governing agency, organization or board.

The program may also be actively participating in or pursuing a national statewide, or locally based quality improvement process or system.

Other considerations:
– Scholarship awards are dependent upon availability of funds and priorities of funders.
– Other eligibility criteria may apply and are subject to change without notice.

Apply today for the upcoming semester!
Teacher Education And Compensation Helps
For information, call 877-51-TEACH or visit http://www.pacca.org/TEACH

“This newly expanded T.E.A.C.H. scholarship is an exciting opportunity for afterschool and youth professionals. It provides the resources needed for staff to become specialists in their field and make a real difference in the lives of children and youth.”
Laurie Litz, T.E.A.C.H. Director

Students receive:
– money for tuition, books, and expenses
– a T.E.A.C.H. counselor to provide assistance and support
– bonuses and raises as they complete their studies

Sponsoring Employers receive:
– reimbursement to pay for substitute coverage as staff attends class*
– retention of qualified staff as part of the scholarship agreement

I hope you will join me in this great initiative. Below is the description of the Dream Keepers Forum event and a bit about the Dream Keepers Campaign. Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to give me a call at 973-2802307.

I look forward to working with you and following up with additional details should you decide to become a partner.

With Faith,
Yve-Car

In response to the cyber bullying and suicide epidemic among children and youth in our community, Chosen Generation Worship Center and the Feltonville Dream Center have launched a campaign to keep our kids and their dreams alive. The Dream Keepers Campaign seeks to raise funds to sustain and expand services to youth who need to build esteem, need a safe and secure atmosphere to grow and who want to discover their own creative abilities through the arts. In addition, the campaign seeks to serve as an information vehicle on issues that plague youth today.

As such, I would like to formally invite you and your organization to be a Dream Keepers partner and attend our awareness event on Tuesday, November 30th between 6:30pm-8:30pm. The purpose of this event is to engage in thoughtful and provocative discussion on cyber bullying, suicide among youth, and tangible ways we can collaboratively help give life to the dreams of our children in Philadelphia.

Your level of preparation significantly effects the cost of your audit.  In addition, your successful audit is critical to your organization’s long-term financial viability.

Come learn key tips that will help you:

1. Ensure that the audit proceeds smoothly.
2. Avoid common errors that will increase costs; and
3. Prepare for presenting the audit to your Board…[more]

December 7th
9:00 am – 12:00 pm

SEPA United Way
1709 Ben Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia
Register here

https://brynmawr.wufoo.com/forms/charting-the-course/

Many nonprofits see a wealth of possibility as people 50+ reach a stage in life where they may have time to connect and contribute.  Older adult volunteers of the “boomer” generation bring  a wealth of experience, knowledge, skills and passions, which can be a bonanza for non-profits struggling with fewer resources.  Join us when national expert Andrea Taylor shares the secrets of recruiting and supporting this unusual group of volunteers.

December 2nd
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Graduate School of Social Work
Bryn Mawr College
Register here

https://brynmawr.wufoo.com/forms/leveraging-leadership-through-life-experience/

During the session we will talk about our new certificate program for Ascending Leaders, which will launch in January 2011.

Please think about the savvy middle managers you know, in your organization or in your friendship circle, and encourage them to attend!

Forward this message and let them know they can register for the Open House here.

https://brynmawr.wufoo.com/forms/open-house-registration/

Applications are due 11/29.

NELI is the Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute at Bryn Mawr College.

http://www.brynmawr.edu/neli/

PhillyGoes2College is holding a workshop on Wednesday, November 17th, from 3-6pm to help those starting the college application process or who would like one-on-one help with their applications.
To register for the workshop, visit here.

Volunteers are needed to help students with their essays.

The workshop will take place at South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St.  To volunteer for this or future events, contact: Shandra.Bernath-Plaisted@phila.gov

Showcase Your Service-Learning Project

Participate in a Service-Learning Showcase on Thursday, April 7. The Showcase will feature high-quality service-learning projects from across the country and around the world — their implementation, connection to curriculum goals, and impact. Youth participation is strongly encouraged. Deadline: December 17.

Be a Conference Affiliate

Affiliates are a crucial link between the conference and attendees, helping the conference reach diverse audiences. Get exposure to an international audience of educators, state and federal officials, youth leaders, policy-makers, and representatives from community-based organizations involved in the service-learning movement. Deadline: December 17.

Volunteering

Nowhere is the conference’s spirit of service more visible than in the volunteers. They make the event happen by serving as room monitors, directing participants, and helping out in countless other capacities.

Exhibit at the Conference

The Exhibit Hall is the epicenter of educational innovations and provides an interactive center for resources and materials. Meet conference participants interested in the latest education, communications, and consulting tools and techniques to enhance educational programming in K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and community-based organizations. Deadline: December 17.

Highlight Your Higher Ed Institution
The College Fair is your chance to meet approximately 1,000 young leaders and highlight your higher education institution and its learning opportunities. Deadline: December 17.

Sell Books and Other Publications
Offer your service-learning materials for sale at the conference bookstore! Located in the Exhibit Hall, the center of conference activity, the bookstore puts your products in front of attendees from around the world.

Learn more at http://www.nylc.org/conference or call (800) 366-6952.

We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta!

Tools and Techniques for Better Outcomes in an Era of Healthcare Reform

A One-Day Online Conference

Thursday, 18 November
11:00-18:00 Eastern (New York) / 16:00-23:00 GMT

presentations at this conference include
New Importance of Community Collaboration In the Era of Healthcare Reform
Kevin Shrake, MA, FACHE / M*D Resources, Inc. and former Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Belleville, Illinois

This presentation by Kevin Shrake will emphasize the critical value that collaboration can provide in support of community health assessment and improvement in light of recent U.S. health care reforms.

Frameworks and Tools For Improved Collaboration
Louise A. Kent, M.B.A., ASQ CQIA / Northern Kentucky Health Department and the National Association of County and City Health Officers; Bill Barberg/Insight formation and Paul Epstein/Results That Matter Team

These two presentations will highlight two of the most effective tools available for strategic planning in support of collaborative health improvement at the community level:  “Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnerships” (MAPP) and the “Community Balanced Scorecard” (CBSC). The two approaches are highly complementary. When used together they can reinforce each other to produce measurable improvements in the public health system and in community health outcomes.

Other sessions include

* Engaging Key Partners For Assessment And Improvement
* Case Studies Of Effective Collaboration For Health
* Promising Practices And Innovations
* Overcoming Obstacles To Successful Community Collaboration

about this conference
Communities around the globe today face a variety of significant challenges to making real gains in community health. From the threat of chronic disease to increased costs and limited resources, public health leaders must think and practice differently in order to achieve meaningful improvements.

Moreover, health care reforms (such as in the US and those proposed in the UK) present new or changed requirements for how we think about — and how we engage with — individuals, organizations and communities at large on public health issues.

This one-day online conference seeks to highlight and share promising practices and “lessons learned” about how we can best collaborate to implement strategies for healthier communities. It is an ideal opportunity to bring together a group of community partners to share in a powerful, inspiring and practical learning opportunity that doesn’t require the expensive registrations fees and travel costs of typical conferences. By having a group of partners share in this learning opportunity, you will be set up to quickly put these valuable ideas into practice.

Key subjects this conference will explore include:

* Why improved collaboration is essential for implementing community health strategies
* What it takes to make collaboration work: insights and perspectives from hospitals, private employers, schools and other partners
* Collaborative approaches to community health assessment and improvement
* Examples and case studies in community health collaboration
* No-Cost and Low-Cost ideas for improving community health
* Effect of recent health reforms on community health collaboration

We’re also inviting registrants to share their own mini-cases on a promising practices and innovations that support improved community health, as part of a Pecha Kucha session.* Following the participant presentations, there will be discussion of how the ideas might improve our own respective work. (If you would like to share what your community is doing during the Pecha Kucha, you’ll be able to sign up as part of the conference registration process.)

*A Pecha Kucha is a Japanese term that is loosely translated to mean “chit chat”; each presenter has a short period of time (6 minutes 40 seconds) to provide their report before we move on to the next person. This provides an opportunity to hear from your peers and increases the interactivity of the session.

agenda
See the complete conference agenda

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6aTIFYKxzfTZmJjNGUzMTYtMzczZi00ZDllLWE5OTUtNmIzYmEwZWEzNmIx&hl=en

register

Registration is either Individual or Group.

Register at this link: http://www.publicdecisions.com/miniconf_health_2010nov18.html

Individual
Individual / $49 USD
By Session / $25 USD per session

Group
Small Group (Up to 5 people) / $99 USD
Medium Group (Up 6-10 people) / $149 USD
Large Group (11 people or more) / $199 USD

Government purchase orders accepted

The event will provide a wonderful opportunity to introduce our Advisory Board members and for you to meet other volunteers and supporters!

Please join us:
November 19th
5:30-7:30
Mad River Grill, 126 Chestnut Street
Drink specials with $10 cover

CWF Director Megan Kiesel will serve as one of our bar tenders!

The Campaign for Working Families seeks practical ways to improve the economic status of working people in Philadelphia so that working families have the opportunity to increase their income, wisely manage their finances, protect themselves from expensive financial services and build assets.

For more information: http://www.phillyfreetaxes.org/

Given the current criticism surrounding leadership preparation programs and the changing nature of school leadership itself, school districts are becoming more actively involved in influencing the quality of their school leaders and the preparation programs that develop them. A new report from the Wallace Foundation looks at eight urban districts that received long-term, sustained funding to design, or influence the redesign of, leadership preparation programs to match their leadership needs. Across the board, the study found the eight districts were faced with two persistent challenges in addressing their school leadership needs: (1) a continuing demand for highly qualified school leaders that exceeded the number of qualified and available local candidates; and (2) a number of chronically low-performing schools, requiring leaders who are equipped to dramatically improve them. All eight districts expanded the scope of preparation beyond minimal requirements for leadership licensure or certification, with new requirements that typically included more content about school and district systems and procedures and more applied learning experiences. The report also found that districts’ and university-affiliated programs were influenced by their states’ regulatory policies and requirements for school leadership licensure or certification, for leadership preparation program registration, and for public and private higher education in general, all of which were increasingly shaped by national leadership standards and national accreditation requirements.

See the report: http://www.wallacefoundation.org/KnowledgeCenter/KnowledgeTopics/CurrentAreasofFocus/EducationLeadership/Pages/districts-developing-leaders.aspx

In a post on her Policy Notebook blog for Education Week, Sara Mead writes that discussions of the Century Foundation’s study on socioeconomic integration leave out “the elephant in the room”: the fact that even in the absence of logistical or geographic barriers, the United States has too many poor and low-income kids to make feasible a 35/65 percent split between low-income and middle class students in every school. “If there were no residential segregation, if poor and low-income students were perfectly geographically dispersed such that their percentage in every district, school, and classroom perfectly matched their percentage in the population at large — the percentage of low-income students in every school, district, and classroom would be too large to produce the benefits of socio-economic integration identified in the Century Foundation’s research.” Moreover, the success of these policies themselves depends on the continuation of the income segregation necessary to create predominantly middle class schools in the first place. In a nation in which 21 percent of children live in poverty and 42 percent live in low-income families, Mead writes that greater economic integration can be, at best, a solution for only a fraction of children.

Read more: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/sarameads_policy_notebook/2010/10/the_limits_of_socioeconomic_integration.html

Innovations in Civic Participation (ICP) launched the Youth Civic Participation in Action: Meeting Community and Youth Development Needs, which highlights the growing momentum for youth civic participation worldwide as more countries develop programs to provide opportunities for young people to build skills for success while also addressing critical community needs. This publication features brief snapshots of youth civic participation programs and policies in 101 countries on six continents. Each snapshot provides a brief glimpse into the status of youth civic participation in the countries included and describes how young people are meeting community and youth development needs worldwide through civic participation. The publication is available at http://www.icicp.org/ycpworldwide2010

This issue of The Generator asserts the importance of “learning” in service-learning as we explore the third step of the service-learning cycle, establishing evidence of learning. To create academically rigorous service-learning experiences, NYLC has brought in Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe’s “backwards design” approach. Jon Schmidt shares the successful citywide approach to service-learning in Chicago. St. Paul’s Barack and Michelle Obama Elementary School students involved a range of community partners to produce a “Service-Learning Champions” video — their evidence of learning.With this issue of The Generator we assert the importance of “learning” in service-learning as we explore the third step of the service-learning cycle, establishing evidence of learning.

Visit http://www.nylc.org/pages-resourcecenter-downloads-The_Generator_Fall_2010?emoid=14:924 to download The Generator.

According to Jonathan M. Tisch from the College of Citizenship and Public Service in Medford, MA, an estimated 20.4 percent of young Americans under the age of 30 voted in Tuesday’s midterm elections, compared to 23.5 percent in the last midterm election (2006). The change in the turnout rate is outside the margin of error (+/-2%), according to Tufts University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). Almost nine million Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 voted. Almost 10 million people in the same age group voted in 2006. To read more, please visit http://www.civicyouth.org/youth-turnout-about-20-comparable-to-recent-midterm-years

You can also read “Youth Voter Turnout 20%: What Does That Mean?” – a blog by CIRCLE’s Director, Peter Levine, at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-levine/youth-voter-turnout-20-wh_b_778244.html