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.