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.