Resources
Youth Projects
Represent Mazaine's Essay Contest
If you know someone who has been or is living in a foster home, encourage him or her to take part in Represent magazine's essay contest.
Represent is an award-winning magazine by and for youth in foster care.
The contest is open to anyone 21 or younger who lives in a group home, juvenile detention center or with a foster family (or who used to be in foster care).
The contest requires that entrants write about someone who has inspired them and how that person helped them change for the better.
Entries, due by Dec. 1, can be submitted online or by mail. For submission directions, go to www.representmag.org/contests/represent.html.
Three prizes - one each of $150, $75 and $50 - will be awarded and winners' essays will be published in Represent.
To learn more about Represent, go to www.representmag.org/about/represent.html.
Science for All: What Do Our Kids Say?
How do we interest more children in science – particularly those who come from communities not well served by classroom, informal, after-school, or summer science programs? The Noyce Foundation partnered with Techbridge, the World Café Community Foundation, and Youth Radio to host a series of conversations on science with 7th and 8th graders from Edendale Middle School in San Lorenzo, California. Highlights of these conversations can be seen in the video "Science for All: What Do Our Kids Say?" The video was created as part of the Noyce Foundation's efforts to encourage science in afterschool programs which offer a safe, hands-on setting for kids to explore science ideas in ways that aren't possible in school. The video illustrates what youth think about science and what would turn them on to learning science. The accompanying "conversation guide" was developed by the project partners to share what they learned about creating similar conversations with youth that could be used as a way to help invite and motivate youth to become more engaged in science activities and learning in and out of school.
For additional information on the Noyce Foundation's informal science efforts, see www.noycefdn.org/informalScience.php.
Serve on the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Youth Advisory Board
Suggest to a young person you know that he or she apply to serve on the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Youth Advisory Board for the 2011-2012 school year.
Board members serve as ambassadors for the Alliance, share feedback on empowerME programs and activities and lead service-learning programs related to preventing childhood obesity.
Applicants must be between the ages of 8 and 17 and live in the United States (including U.S. territories) when membership begins in July. They must be willing to share their unique experiences and opinions to shape the programs of the Alliance's Kids' Movement to make healthy living the norm, not the exception.
To learn more and apply, go to www.empowerme2b.org/2011-2012-youth-advisory-board. The deadline to apply is April 8.
JJDP AD CAMPAIGN URGES PROSPECTIVE MENTORS TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE
Mentoring programs have been shown to build self-esteem, enhance academic performance, and improve behavior. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has long supported mentoring as an effective way to prevent at-risk youth from becoming involved in delinquency.
Continuing its Be a Mentor campaign, OJJDP expects to reach some 3.5 million people through its ad in the game programs for Major League Baseball's 2010 American League and National League Championship Series and the World Series. The ad, which invites adults to "Step Up to the Plate" by becoming a mentor, will also appear in the program for the 2011 All-Star game.
A newly created page on the OJJDP Web site provides visitors with an array of resources related to mentoring.
Resources: For information about mentoring-related resources, visit www.ojjdp.gov/programs/mentoring.html.
Free, downloadable resources by History.com
Free, downloadable resources - available at www.history.com/topics/take-a-vet#a4 - include a how-to guide (in English and Spanish), curriculum and planning guides and student participation forms.
Also consider using the month of November to initiate a letter-writing campaign to servicemen and women deployed overseas.
Letters can be sent to:
Packages From Home
Attention: Letter Project
1201 S 7th Ave.
Suite 50
Phoenix AZ 85007
For letter-writing guidelines, go to www.packagesfromhome.org/letter-writing-guidelines
The Kids' Science Challenge
The Kids' Science Challenge is under way and open to third- through sixth-graders. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, kids are asked to propose an original question, problem or experiment.
This year's categories for scientific exploration are Magical Microbes, Super Stuff for Sports and Sensational Sounds.
Winning students in each category will then have the opportunity to meet and work with scientists, in addition to winning prizes.
For complete rules, go to www.kidsciencechallenge.com/html/rules.php.
For additional information and to submit an entry, go to www.kidsciencechallenge.com/reg/.
Entries will be accepted until Feb. 28 and early entrants are eligible for prizes. For more information and a video about the contest categories, go to www.kidsciencechallenge.com/#/home.
Green Mapping
Green Mapping is catching on and children and adults around the world are participating in diverse and unusual mapping projects.
Green Mapping looks at a community using the map as the medium. The map could examine environmental issues or look at community resources and needs with a critical eye. Green Maps can be computer generated or hand drawn and can include poems, text, photos and background information.
Children and adults from around the globe have mapped diverse projects. Consider ideas such as:
- Where are bike trails, farmers markets or wildlife habitats in your town? Are there good walking tours to recommend? What are the cultural resources for children in your area? Are there enough?
- Are there toxic waste sites or environmental hazards in your community? Are there rivers or streams that are at risk in your area? Where are the green spaces in your community?
- What is youth-friendly in your neighborhood? What does your neighborhood need?
Learn more about Green Mapping at www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/en/home.
A Running Start
New York Road Runners, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the sport of distance running, has developed a free online fitness video series - A Running Start (www.nyrr.org/ycr/about_ycr.asp) - that after-school professionals can use to get kids moving.
While designed to help youth coaches teach the basics of running, after-school professionals can adapt the videos and incorporate the activities into their programs.
More than 80 videos are available on warming up and cooling down; stretching and strength training; form; pacing; and games.
Videos are divided by age group (kindergarten through fourth grade; fifth through eighth; and ninth through 12th) and within each group broken down by category.
To access the videos, go to www.nyrr.org/ycr/ars/overview/all.asp.
A Running Start, which was launched in September, also will feature activities that teach about nutrition and activities that incorporate math, science and English.
Do One Nice Thing
Do One Nice Thing is again promoting the effort by U.S. soldiers to help children in Afghanistan by donating school supplies.
If interested in taking part, have children collect the following items for each child: one 8-by-10-inch or 9-by-12-inch lined spiral notebook with a blank cover (no Hollywood or cartoon characters on it); one pen; two pencils; a pencil sharpener; a small toy; and a box of raisins.
(Suggested toys include coloring books, crayons, markers, watercolor paint sets, small stuffed animals, cars and balls.)
Place the items in a plastic resealable bag approximately10-by-13 inches (ensuring that the notebook fits inside).
The children also can write letters to soldiers thanking them for their service and including them in the box with their bags of goodies for the Afghanistan children.
Packages can be sent to:
- Christopher L. Pelfrey
- 3-320 FA S3, 3BCT
- TF Red Knight
- FOB Salerno
- APO AE 09314
For more information on this effort, go to www.doonenicething.com/d1nt-ideas.php?cat=72.
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards:
Due by November 1
If your after-school program is affiliated with a school, consider encouraging youth in fifth- through 12th-grades to apply for the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.
The awards honor young people who have made a difference in their community through volunteering.
Applicants must have engaged in a volunteer activity that occurred at least partly during the 12 months prior to the date of application.
- Applications must:
- describe an individual's community service activity or an individual's significant leadership in a group activity that has taken place during the previous year
- be completed and submitted to a school principal or the head of an officially designated local organization by Nov. 1 and
- be certified by the principal of a middle level or high school or the head of an officially designated local organization. These individuals should review implementation instructions carefully.
(Officially designated local organizations are Girl Scout councils, county 4-H organizations, American Red Cross chapters, YMCAs and affiliates of HandsOn Network.)
For information on how to apply, go to http://spirit.prudential.com/view/page/soc/14782?lp=14779.
APPA National Children's Pet Poetry Contest
If your after-school program is affiliated with a school, have the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders consider entering the American Pet Products Association's third annual APPA National Children's Pet Poetry Contest.
The contest seeks to promote APPA's public-awareness campaign, Pets Add life.
Youth must submit a unique poem about their pets, what they love about them and the joys they bring.
Entries can be posted online at www.petsaddlife.org or mailed with a submission form to:
Pets Add Life
45 Winter St.
Reno, NV 89503
Two entries from each grade level will win a $250 gift certificate for pet products, have their winning poem published in a nationally circulated publication and each receive a $1,000 scholarship for their after-school program to spend on pet-related education.
The deadline to submit entries is Jan. 31.
For complete contest rules and to access a submission form, go to www.petsaddlife.org/2010-pet-poetry-contest/rules/.
NEW FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION GUIDE HELPS PARENTS INFORM THEIR CHILDREN ABOUT ONLINE SAFETY
Published by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), "Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online" offers parents practical tips to guide their children in navigating the online world. For the complete document, please click here.
As the guide notes, online means of interaction come with certain risks, including inappropriate conduct, contact, and content. The information that "Net Cetera" provides can help parents empower their children to reduce these risks.
This free resource is available via http://www.onguardonline.gov/
Resources: "Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online" is available online at www.onguardonline.gov/topics/net-cetera.aspx
The PBS site Zoom
Encourage the children in your program to explore science by offering activities that combine learning and fun. The PBS site Zoom has an assortment of experiments in chemistry, engineering, physics, life sciences and others.
The Children and Nature Network
The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) helps to build the children and nature movement, and to help youth and others learn about ways to get outside and connect to nature. For more information on Get Outside Day, click here.
Council for Environmental Education
The Council for Environmental Education has launched Growing Up WILD, an early childhood education program to connect children ages three to seven to nature through outdoor exploration. The curriculum is designed to develop positive impressions about nature, and improve social and academic skills.
Visit girlsrockthehouse.org for more info.
Nevada Youth Action Council
NYAC stands for Nevada Youth Action Council. NYAC represents both middle and high school youth that engage in peer and public education, advocacy and service at the local and state level, along with priorities through research, training, education, and experience. It provides opportunities for youth to build leadership and mentoring using a positive approach. All activities are done by the youth and the youth will be partnered with adults through their community coalitions and collaborating partner organizations who will guide and support their roles as youth leaders.
Micahel Giacchino acceptance speech
"When I was 9 I asked my dad, 'Can I have your movie camera, that old wind-up 8 millimeter camera that was in your drawer?' And he goes, 'Sure, take it.' And I took it and I started making movies with it and I started being as creative as I could and never once in my life did my parents ever say, 'What you're doing is a waste of time.' Never. And I grew up. I had teachers, I had colleagues, I had people that I worked with all through my life who were always telling me 'What you're doing is not a waste of time.' So that was normal to me that it was okay to do that. I know there are kids out there that don't have that support system, so if you're out there and you're listening, listen to me: If you want to be creative, get out there and do it. It's not a waste of time. Do it.” Micahel Giacchino acceptance speech at the Academy Awards on March 7, 2010 after receiving the Oscar for best Original Score for the movie UP.