Learn and Serve – Michigan’s Youth Voice

Posting written by the Learn and Serve – Michigan Team

Over the past couple of weeks perhaps you have heard us talking about the Service-Learning Youth Council or SLYC (pronounced “slick”). If you haven’t heard of these amazing kids yet, well it is about time you do!

The Service-Learning Youth Council is an opportunity for students to lend their voice to Learn and Serve – Michigan. We get to hear their input and encourage them to become youth advocates for service-learning in their schools. At the beginning of the school year we send around applications to our grantee districts. This year we were quite impressed with the group of applications we received.

Students from across the state joined our team in Hersey, Michigan for the 2009-2010 SLYC retreat earlier this December. During that weekend they learned how they can become voices for the youth of their community and how they can plan a service event. With each other’s help they climbed a huge wall and hoisted their friends into the sky as part of their leadership building at the Eagle Village Adventure Center.

During this time all of the SLYC students proved themselves capable leaders. They met and exceeded every challenge. Here at Learn and Serve – Michigan we don’t often get to see the wonderful students who work with our grantee districts so it was a great opportunity to meet an excellent group of youth. By the end of the weekend everyone was tired but proud of what we accomplished.

This is just the beginning of this year’s SLYC. Members are expected to do three things during their term:

1. Participate in one 2010 MLK Day of Service Project.
2. Plan one statewide 2010 Global Youth Service Day event with other SLYC members.
3. Do one thing to promote service-learning in their community (i.e. a guest blog post, a Facebook campaign, a presentation, a YouTube video, etc.)

We are excited to see how they meet these goals! At the retreat they were just beginning to plan their event for the 2010 Global Youth Service Day and they have some great ideas.

We’ll keep you updated as the year progresses and look out for our SLYC member’s guest blogs when we come back in 2010!

Michigan Needs Recruits!

“I’m Robyn Stegman from the Michigan Community Service Commission and we want you to rethink Michigan’s future.

Service is the solution we need to move Michigan forward.

We all know what is holding Michigan back: a high unemployment rate, a low graduation rate, and a terrible economy. We hear that every day.

But do we know Michigan’s assets?

More young people volunteer today then any previous generation. Every day people are retiring and entering second careers in service.

These people are Michigan’s assets. They are the creativity of Motown, the innovation of the assembly line, and the social consciousness of the six hour work week.

Michigan needs Michiganders. In service we rediscover our power and reinvest in our community. We rethink our future.”

This speech was produced during the Communicators Institute held in Mt. Pleasant on December 10. The Institute allowed some of the staff at the Michigan Community Service Commission to think about our message. What should people take away from our efforts?

Empowerment.

John F. Kennedy, who started the VISTA program I serve with, famously said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Service has always been about empowering people to change their community. It is about realizing you are the change maker in your community. With service you are the one who helps your neighbor instead of expecting someone else to come along.

The message at the MCSC is a call to action. It is also a call for the discovery of Michigan. The realization we have so many assets to help us get out of this rut and all of those assets lie in you, in the people of Michigan. To steal from Kennedy… it is not what your country can do for us but the realization that you are the country. You are Michigan. We are Michigan’s future, we the people.

It is time for us to think about service as more than just volunteering. It is about building a healthy community, a healthy state. It is about realizing there are more assets in our community then threats. It is realizing we already possess the tools to build a brighter future. For us at the Michigan Community Service Commission it means realizing all Michigan needs is Michiganders.

We’re accepting recruits.  Visit www.michigan.gov/volunteer today!

Celebrating Service in Michigan

Guest Posting by: MCSC AmeriCorps*VISTAs Shana Holet and Matt Reaume

This week was a week of celebration between the 4^th Annual Michigan’s Premier Mentoring Conference and the 2009 Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Celebration. Our two new AmeriCorps*VISTAs reflect on their experience and how it relates to what they are doing at the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC).

Shana Holet: Hello all. Wow!!! What an amazing week to be serving as the Inclusion VISTA with the Michigan Community Service Commission.

At the Mentor Michigan conference I was part of a standing ovation given to a young teenage boy who, with great passion and heart, spoke to the audience about his experience with First Gentlemen Daniel G. Mulhern as his mentor. Having never spoken into a microphone before; this teenager spoke to more than 250 individuals demonstrating the power of mentoring. Every young person needs a mentor whether it is a formal mentor or mentee relationship or someone a young person can consistently rely on. Seeing so many individuals who are dedicated to mentoring is powerful. Yet the most powerful part of this conference was seeing a young teenager, who may have had obstacles but overcame them, demonstrate the strength of the human spirit and show us that everyone has a voice.

Inclusion is letting a person speak for themselves. It would have been simple for someone to read the mentee’s speech for him, viewing him as inexperienced. This did not happen; the mentee was included. He spoke and read with support that made it possible for all to hear his voice. Being the Inclusion VISTA, I become very excited when I view inclusion and fired up to correct exclusion.

The next day it was off to Michigan State University’s Kellogg Center for the 2009 Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Celebration. Member Celebration included more than 500 people who are giving a year to service. As a VISTA serving at the MCSC, I had the opportunity to direct people into registration. I was able to visually see service members as they came through the door. I was delighted to see mass diversity among the members. Many people who came through the door were of different nationalities and cultures, men, women, young, old, disabled, and non-disabled. The entire day was filled with a community of service members united to make a difference in Michigan. The physical space was more comfortably laid out and inclusion was apparent. I was very proud to be apart of the celebration.

Matt Reaume: The week of November 15, 2009 was a whirlwind of activity with both the 4^th Annual Michigan’s Premier Mentoring Conference and the Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Celebration taking place one right after the other. It was a unique opportunity to be surrounded by passionate individuals committed to improving the lives of Michigan citizens through their selfless service and hard work.

It is rather difficult to choose one single event as being the highlight of the week. Amazing keynote speakers, touching personal stories, and an exciting atmosphere of energy and idealism provided the backdrop to an intense three days of personal and professional development.

It is without a doubt though; the most enjoyable aspect of the entire week for me personally was participating in the first meeting of the 2009-2010 Michigan’s AmeriCorps Member Council. Having served as a member of the Council last year, I was looking forward to meeting all the new representatives and even more excited to continue the work from last year.

All the representatives contribute a wealth of diverse skills and knowledge that will undoubtedly add immense value to the Council’s mission. I look forward to working with these dedicated members throughout our year of service together and feel blessed for the opportunity to do so!

Social Media – What does it all mean?

Guest Posting By: Robyn Stegman, Learn & Serve AmeriCorps*VISTA and the Learn & Serve – Michigan Team

In the past few weeks you might have noticed some changes here at Learn and Serve – Michigan. We have launched our Facebook Fan Page and a Twitter account. We have added new members to our NING site and new posts to our Youth Service Blog.  For some people these have been exciting changes – for others we are speaking a foreign language. NING? Blog? Twitter? Facebook? Perhaps you have only heard them in passing. Perhaps you have never heard them at all.

We have all used networking. Say Susan, the teacher, is at her friend Terry’s annual Christmas party where she runs into Joe. Joe is getting rid of all of his kid’s old art supplies. Susan knows her school’s art teacher would love the treasure trove of markers, paints, and paper Joe was planning on throwing away, so she offers to take them off his hands and the school’s art teacher now has more supplies.

Social media isn’t all that different! Except now Sue can still find out what Joe is up to, even if he moved to Uganda. Now Sue is connected with not only her friends but her friends of friends of friends. Now she is connected to a lot more opportunities to find art supplies or information through the internet. Facebook is not all that different then a get-together at Terry’s Christmas party, but now Sue is partying with thousands of people. Social media allows us to connect to each other in new and interesting ways.

Intrigued? We hope so! The fact is Facebook, Twitter, NING, and other social networking sites are being used in a lot of interesting ways.

Take Twitter for example: last year astronauts posted updates on Twitter from space and it was famously used to help combat fraud in the Iranian presidential election. Last year an event called “Tweetsgiving” raised over 10,000 dollars in 48 hours. Just think of what Twitter could do for you!

Let’s take a look at the way Learn and Serve – Michigan are taking advantage of these resources:

Facebook
What is it: A social networking site that allows you to post events, pictures, updates, links, videos, etc.
How we use it: We have a Fan Page that gives news updates and shares resources with our grantees and the general public.
Link: http://www.facebook.com/learnandservemi 

Twitter:
What is it: A social networking site that allows users to post news and updates that are 140 characters or less.
How we use it: We use it to update our followers with the latest resources, events, and news as well as report on events such as the annual grantee meeting.
Link: www.twitter.com/learnandservemi

Blog:
What is it: An online journal that allows you to post reflections, commentaries, and informative posts.
How we use it: Our blog is used to post on topics helpful for our grantees as well as post updates and successes of service-learning around the state.
Link: http://michiganslyc.blogspot.com

NING
What is it: A site that allows you to create your own private social networking site where users can create profiles, and post photos, videos, questions, etc.
How we use it: Our NING allows our grantees to network and share information and is a way for us to stay in touch with our grantees.
Link: www.learnandservemi.ning.com

YouTube
What is it: A site to post and share videos.
How we use it: We share our channel with others at the Michigan Community Service Commission to post our grantees stories along with PSAs and other useful videos.
Link: www.youtube.com/MCSConline

One last note: Many people at our recent grantee meeting have brought up an interesting point. What do you do when your school does not allow you to access sites like Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube during the day? Well there are two ways to go about it. The first is to talk with your tech folks and find solutions. Perhaps you should create your own social network like Deb Wagner of Ionia County ISD. Or you could create a way for teachers to bypass online restrictions. NING might be a solution. I have yet to hear of a school that blocks NING and it allows a private space for you to network with other students and teachers.

Our best advice for anyone looking at social media options it to just go through trial and error. If you want to get on Twitter, set up an account and follow five to 10 good organizations. Spend about 10 minutes every day on Twitter for about a month before you decide to do something big with it, just to get a feel for the culture and usage. It might work for you or it might not.

2010 Semester of Service – How will you get involved?

Guest Posting By: Robyn Stegman, Learn & Serve AmeriCorps*VISTA & Elyse Walter, MCSC Communication Specialist

Recently, at the 2009-2010 Learn and Serve – Michigan Grantee Meeting, we were able to share the latest announcements affecting service-learning practitioners. Below is an account of those announcements, several of which we feel interest the field at large!

2010 Semester of Service
The Semester of Service concept was created to facilitate creative thinking this school year around service-learning. The “official” launch of the 2010 Semester of Service is Monday, January 18, 2010 (also the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service) and “concludes” April 23-25, 2010 (also the weekend of Global Youth Service Day). We encourage you to engage your students and your school during the 2010 Semester of Service in the following ways:

• Learn & Serve Challenge
  The 3^rd Annual National Learn & Serve Challenge will place students on the frontlines of efforts to employ innovative solutions to rebuilding and renewing their communities for the entire 2009-2010 school year. The Challenge kicked on October 5 – 11. We encourage you to “Challenge” yourself this coming year through the quality of your service-learning practice and by sharing your stories. Please don’t look at the National Learn & Serve Challenge as an additional effort we would like you to pursue. Instead, consider it a supportive piece to your overall service-learning efforts and an opportunity to draw national attention to the great work you are accomplishing.
• 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
  This annual national day of service launches the official “2010 Semester of Service.” Consider planning a simple service project for your students and/or community – particularly on Monday, January 18, 2010 – as a great way to jumpstart your school’s second semester and to reaffirm your commitment to service-learning this school year. Resources are available at www.mlkday.gov.
• 2010 Global Youth Service Day
  Global Youth Service Day is an international service event occurring in more than 100 countries this April 23 – 25, 2010. On GYSD, children and youth address the world’s most critical issues by partnering with families, schools, community and faith-based organizations, businesses, and government. The Michigan Community Service Commission has been selected as a Lead Agency for the 2010 GYSD and we hope to make our efforts statewide. As a Lead Agency we will be creating and leading a 2010 Michigan GYSD Coalition, engaging the media, engaging elected officials, promoting GYSD, and encouraging the posting of service projects. Resources are available at www.gysd.org.

We know this is a lot of information to take in – but let us leave you with three simple steps to get involved as part of the 2010 Semester of Service:

1. Commit to the Semester of Service by accepting the “Challenge.” You can do so by visiting www.learnandservechallenge.org.
2. Do something! Whether that is planning an event for MLK Day or GYSD – or just engaging your students and schools in service-learning in some way!
3. Tell us what you did. We want you to share your service-learning plan for the 2009-2010 school year with us. Please look for a form in the near future asking you about your efforts.

Two additional announcements…

Service Learning Youth Council (SLYC)
The Service Learning Youth Council is an opportunity for your school’s young people to get involved in service-learning at the state level. SLYC members are expected to be ambassadors for their community by bring their voice to our meetings and spreading the message of service-learning in their home schools. This year SLYC members will work together to create statewide events around the 2010 Semester of Service as well as join in leadership trainings and discussions on youth activism and voice. This year we will kick off the 2009-2010 SLYC with a retreat on December 5 and 6, 2009. We would love to see your wonderful students there. SLYC applications are due Friday, November 13, 2009. If you have any questions contact Robyn Stegman at stegmanr@michigan.gov

2010 Learn and Serve – Michigan Outstanding Service Learning Awards
Nominate your outstanding students, teachers, programs, and administrators for the 2010 Learn and Serve – Michigan Outstanding Service Learning Awards. These awards go to service-learning innovators and super stars who constantly strive toward excellence in service-learning. There are four categories of awards: the Administrator Award is for an administrator who has served as a model of leadership for service-learning; the Innovative Program Award is for a service-learning program that demonstrates innovation and excellence; the Student Award goes to a student who has served as a model of leadership; and the Teacher/Practitioner Award is presented to a teacher who implemented their own project and helps nurture others to expand service-learning. The deadline to nominate someone for these awards is November 30, 2009. The application can be found by clicking here.

Spotlight on Youth Service: Ionia County Youth Advisory Committee

Guest Posting By: Robyn Stegman, Learn & Serve AmeriCorps*VISTA

This past week I took a trip to Ionia to take a look at their service-learning programs. Among the many great things Ionia has done, I was most stunned by the work of their youth committee. The Ionia County Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) was originally in charge of giving out youth-related grants but has since blossomed into a power for change. Here is a look of some of the things the Ionia County YAC is up to:

• Project Ignition – YAC was featured in the paper last week for winning a State Farm Project Ignition Grant of $2,000! YAC was the first group in the state to get involved with Project Ignition which is an initiative by the National Youth Leadership Council to help promote teen driver safety. YAC was one of 25 schools in the country to receive the grant and will continue to compete to be part of the top 10 who receive $5,000, or perhaps become the number one school to receive $10,000 for their program this year.
• Facebook – YAC has created a Facebook Fan Page as part of their Project Ignition work to promote their work. To keep updated on the latest YAC events, become a fan at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ionia-MI/Project-Ignition/157171590987. 
• Ionia County YAC Forum – YAC students are hard at work on their youth forum which will cover topics ranging from the achievement gap to leadership training to teen driver safety. The YAC students have some great ideas including one session with an ER doctor to talk about his experiences seeing the results of teen driver accidents and another session where they will show and discuss a popular YouTube video.

If you have a group of young people you would like to highlight in an upcoming blog, please email me, Robyn Stegman, at stegmanr@michigan.gov.

Learn & Serve Challenge Kick Off in Michigan

Post Guest Authored By: Robyn Stegman, Learn & Serve AmeriCorps*VISTA

“Everyone who is involved in service-learning raise your hands,” Detroit Service-Learning Academy Superintendent Eyla Davis asked her students.

Every student eagerly lifted their hands.

“That should be about everybody,” Eyla said with a smile.

The Detroit Service-Learning Academy is unique in Michigan and is one of Learn and Serve – Michigan’s star grantees. At the academy not only is every student involved in a service-learning project, but so is every faculty and staff. That means everyone from the lunch lady to the kindergartener is teaching and learning in some way through one of their several community projects.

The Detroit Service-Learning Academy was one of many schools who joined Learn and Serve – Michigan for the kick off of the Learn & Serve Challenge. Their students have tackled everything from asthma to park restoration. As part of the Challenge posters of their projects lined the lunch room and showed that their students already possessed an advanced understanding of the assets and problems facing their community and the ways they could help.

The ceremony focused on the seventh and eighth grade choir’s project with Grace Centers of Hope, a homeless shelter near by. Earlier in the year the choir discovered the center needed toiletries and decided to get their school involved in a donation drive. A large cart stood behind the podium with everything from toothpaste to deodorant, and even some food, they collected. There were boxes upon boxes full of donations – to the point that the shelter’s representative doubted all of it would fit in her car.

Paula Kaiser VanDam, Executive Director of the Michigan Community Service Commission, was there to deliver Governor Jennifer M. Granholm’s proclamation declaring the week of October 5, 2009 to be the Learn & Serve Challenge:

Whereas, service-learning is a way of teaching and learning that connects meaningful service to the community with classroom instruction while enriching learning, teaching civic responsibility, and fostering personal growth; and,

Whereas, many great accomplishments have been made by more than 1,300 Michigan teachers who engage their students in service-learning as a method to address community needs and solve real problems; and,

Whereas, more than 35,000 Michigan K-12 students provided more than one million hours of service-learning during the 2008-2009 school year; and,

Whereas, the week of October 5, 2009, has been designated nationally as a week to recognize and honor service-learning efforts through K-12 and higher education facilities;

Now, therefore, be it resolved, that I, Jennifer M. Granholm, governor of the state of Michigan, do hereby proclaim the week of October 5, 2009, Michigan Learn and Serve Challenge Week in Michigan. I encourage all citizens to actively engage in service-learning in their own communities across the state of Michigan.

The students at the Detroit Service-Learning Academy are excellent examples of the service-learning efforts in Michigan. Please view this short video highlighting their celebration as part of the 2009-2010 Learn & Serve Challenge Kick Off! 

During the 2009-2010 school year the Learn & Serve Challenge will go far beyond its traditional kick-off week. Learn and Serve – Michigan is asking all of its grantees to support this initiative throughout the year. Please help promote service-learning so it is no longer the “best kept secret of education.”

Stay tuned to future Michigan Youth Service Blog postings for further information about the 2009-2010 Learn & Serve Challenge and what you can do to get involved!

Michigan Youth Pledge to Serve at 2009 Service and Leadership Camp

Nearly 125 youth from across the state made a personal pledge to service at the 2009 Service and Leadership Camp, held July 24, 25, and 26 in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. The annual camp is sponsored by The LEAGUE, the Michigan Community Service Commission, and Learn and Serve – Michigan and aims to join students from across the state to learn leadership skills they can use to advocate for service in their schools.

This year’s event, “Super Servers: Taking on the Challenge of Service,” featured activities such as teambuilding, a Challenge Day program, service projects, and workshops for teachers and students. The Challenge Day program engaged the students in a highly experiential workshop that provided tools and life skills to encourage an environment of acceptance, love, and respect. The students partnered with “Kids Against Hunger,” a nonprofit organization that packages and ships highly nutritious, life-saving meals to starving and malnourished children in developing countries and the United States.  Camp participants helped pack meals to be distributed in their own communities and globally.

A special recognition of service helped round out the weekend’s activities as 12 youth in attendance received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. All the recognized youth have devoted at least 50 hours to volunteer service in the past year, qualifying them for the prestigious award which recognizes individuals, families, and groups with lapel pins, recognition certificates, and a letter signed by President Obama. Michigan Community Service Commission Board Member Breannah Alexander presented the following recipients:

Carson City-Crystal Area Schools
Amber Craig

Detroit Service-Learning Academy
Cinque Littleton

Honey Creek Community Schools
Fin Seely
Ella Steiger

Pathfinder School
Dorothy Buening
Suzy Mitchell

Romulus Community Schools
Elea’ele Buford
Alex Carter
Deshar Dinkins
D’Mario Ellis
Victoria Mangham
Sierra Smith

As mentioned earlier, all of the students made a personal pledge to service while attending this year’s camp. Below is a sampling of those pledges:

I pledge to care more, to get up off my butt, and to do something.

I pledge to recycle more than I do now.

I pledge to help maintain a clean and safe community and to always be kind and caring towards others.

I pledge to stop kids teasing each other.

I pledge to tell my teacher that I want to do a penny drive. Then to give the money to the animal shelter.

I pledge to do five service projects with a good cause.

I pledge to help the Earth, the homeless, and the elderly. To plant a tree, to pick up trash, whatever it takes to be of service.

I pledge to get my family involved in more community service activities.

I pledge to save energy by turning off lights.

I pledge to be a better person.

Morgan from Clarkston - SLYC Member

Hi! My name is Morgan and I am a student at Clarkston Junior High School in Clarkston, Michigan. I have had an amazing time being a part of the Service Learning Youth Council and I look forward to aiding my community further in the years to come.

This year I have had the pleasure of taking part in a wonderful service project at my school. The service project was run by two science teachers in the building. The goal of the service project was to educate four 5th grade classes about the importance of helping our Earth and how we can achieve that objective.

To accomplish our goal, each science teacher and their four classes created an Alphabet Coloring Book. Each alphabet letter page included a fact about helping the Earth and a picture the 5th graders could color. Student groups researched interesting facts about the following five topics for the book: energy conservation, water conservation, human impact on land and water resources, recycling, and alternative energy resources. Then, with their comprehension of one of those topics, they were able to generate fun information to go in the coloring books.

Not only did we create the coloring books, we also took the coloring books to a local elementary school. We were able to present to the 5th graders and inform them about the Earth. I know this experience was a success because the 5th graders told us they learned a lot and also had fun. Both grades benefitted from this service project!

Gina from Clarkston - 2009 SLYC Member

Hello, my name is Gina and I attend Clarkston High School in Clarkston, Michigan. I am so happy to be involved with the 2009 Service Learning Youth Council (SLYC) because even though I have attended only one meeting so far, its something that I knew I was immediately interested in and looking forward to seeing what impact I can really have on my community.
I have served my community through my church helping out with can and blood drives, fundraising, and fasts to learn more about religion and serving those less fortunate. I have also volunteered at a summer camp for two weeks and have met tons of new people and dedicated a lot of time repairing camp sites for the campers.

These are two examples of what I have done to serve my community already, but in order to continue feeling a sense of pride in my work, I must continue serving. That’s why I’m looking forward to being involved with SLYC, as it will continue my service-learning career.

Katie from Clarkston - 2009 SLYC Member

Hello! My name is Katie and I attend Clarkston High School in Clarkston, Michigan. I’m looking forward to being a member of the Service Learning Youth Council (SLYC) this year because it pushes me to step outside of my comfort zone and be more aware and more compassionate about my community.

Here in Clarkston we are working to promote service-learning. In the elementary schools we have worked to develop new service-learning programs. My mom, Kathleen, actually coordinates one of the projects at Independence Elementary.

Every year each grade participates in a different service activity. Kindergarteners make care packages with donated toiletries for Grace Centers of Hope; prior to the event they sort each donated item which is tied to their grade level curriculum. In the first grade classes the students make dog and cat toys and treats for the local Humane Society. As part of the learning aspect, they graph different groups of animal toys in class. Second graders write letters to soldiers and send a large care package. These students work on the letters throughout their classroom writing sessions. In the third grade classes, students package muffins for Meals On Wheels and incorporate a writing aspect. Fourth graders make fleece blankets for project L.I.N.U.S., which provides blankets for ill children in hospitals. The students have to measure all of the materials and cooperatively work with a partner. Finally, in fifth grade, students hold a brunch for local senior citizens. The students conduct historical interviews, coordinate a musical performance, and play games with the senior citizens. All of these service-learning activities happen on S.O.C.K.S. Day (Serving Our Community Kids Style).

The 2009 S.O.C.K.S. Day was great – I helped volunteer at it. As usual, all of the kids at Independence Elementary really enjoyed helping out. Whether it was talking to a senior citizen or packaging muffins; volunteering became a reality to every student in the school. I was really glad I got to help my mom out with this huge project. The most rewarding part was the satisfaction in the kid's faces once they saw they had truly made a difference.

Erin from Clarkston – 2009 SLYC Member

Hi, my name is Erin and I am a student at Clarkston High School. I am engaged in service in a variety of ways.

Every year my family helps with a guitar give-away at the annual Noreaste’r Music and Art Festival in Mio, Michigan. Each year we buy up to 12 guitars to give to youth who would like to learn how to play music. All a kid has to do to be eligible for the guitar give-away is write an essay on why they want to learn how to play. The top 12 essays are then picked to receive a free guitar.

In order for my family to receive the guitars, we must fundraise to purchase them. On Sunday, March 15th, we held a fundraiser to do just that. We got a Michigan-based music artist to play a live show and requested $10 donations from concert attendees at the door. At the end of the day we raised over $1,300!

I think what my family does, through the guitar give-away, is important because it educates people about music. The Noreaste’r Music and Art Festival features folk music – not a genre many people listen to. We book folk bands for the Festival so people can learn to recognize this music. And, we get guitars for kids so they can see that music artists can be role models.

Welcome to the Michigan Youth Service Blog!

The Michigan Youth Service Blog aims to introduce you to the many members of Michigan's Service Learning Youth Council and the great service they are doing for our state.

Postings might reflect service to communities, organizations, or schools. The possibilities are endless for youth in Michigan. You can expect two new postings each month.

Please feel free to read their postings and comment - SLYC would love to hear your thoughts!!