We drove 20 minutes from where the conference was to the Nashville Fire Department #20 which is right next to where the school shooting happened. It was pouring rain but that wasn’t gonna stop us, so we got out of our car with a tiny little umbrella and started running through the fire department’s front lawn, the water was dripping down our backs but the cards were safe! We got to the front of the building and someone opened the door and said “This must be important”! She let us in and I started to hand the cards to her and explain what we were there for, but she stopped me and said that there was a man in their lounge room that actually responded to the shooting. We handed the cards to him and he was very grateful and said that they have been hanging all the cards on the front window. We started chatting with them a bit and the nice woman that answered the door was actually EMS! So we said that we actually had EMS cards in our car and I offered to run to get them and she let me out the back door, I got back and we took a selfie and she said that they would give the cards out to the people that needed them! After a little more chatting they said they would also take the 911 dispatch and hospital staff cards and give them out to people they think need them.

The Police Department we went to was the Nashville Midtown Hills Police Precinct. When we got there the doors were shut and locked, it was closed. We started walking back to the car and then someone came out the side door! I ran over and introduced myself and my mom and then explained what we were doing and he was very happy being that he had responded himself. After a bit of chatting with him, we got back in the car and I said MOM WE FORGOT THE FIRST RESPONDERS CARDS! And I grabbed them and ran to catch him before he left, he thanked us and said he would give them out the next shift he had. We also left him the big “We Care” poster.

​In the end, making and giving cards to first responders in your local community is a great way to spread kindness and show your love. I really enjoy it because they go through and see a lot of hard things that can’t be undone and the cards make them feel loved.

The post Creating Kindness first appeared on National Youth Leadership Council.

Recently, we wrapped up the 2023 National Service-Learning Conference and celebrated the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC)’s 40th birthday! This experience was incredible and impressive in every way. From the number of enthusiastic participants (even leaders from overseas!) and supportive environment on the Youth Advisory Council (YAC), to the astounding work of the NYLC staff and unique storytellers and presenters. There was so much trust and teamwork there, which I felt from the moment I met the NYLC team and YAC all the way to the way we embraced each other when saying our farewells.

I have learned so much from my fellow YAC members there with me—Michelle, Kaleb, Molly, and Rafiel—who are all extremely passionate, hardworking, intelligent, dedicated, thoughtful, and kind individuals. The same can be said for all of the NYLC staff (special thanks to Amy, Anthony, Miranda, and Zahra for guiding us every step along the way) who worked tirelessly to deal with logistics and coordination in order to shine the spotlight on the YAC and other leaders. Everyone supported each other and we created a beautiful learning and growing environment.

During the Conference, I was so honored to be given the opportunity to emcee a plenary session, present my personal passion project, “Research to Empower the Next Generation of Aspiring Young Researchers”, as well as contribute to the Guidebook on Education Equality that was presented at a workshop. Unlike many other conferences that I have attended before, which mainly consisted of me passively listening to speakers, this conference was truly an extension of the ideal classroom, allowing youth leaders to play a crucial role in a national movement. We have been given the opportunity to create something so spectacular that it changes how adults perceive young people.

What also made this conference so magical was the inspirational presenters and speakers, such as the CEO of AmeriCorps Mr. Michael Smith, former Congressman Brian Baird, the Youth Panel (Khalique Rogers, Mys. Helen Martin, and Walter Cortina), and many, many others. Just to name a few, I had key takeaways like “dreams don’t work unless you do”, finding commonalities with others and then advocating for why they should care about your issues, and the importance of being down-to-earth and working hard even in higher leadership positions.

Ultimately, this entire conference’s core was to empower youth through service learning and celebrate the tangible impact made. It serves its mission exactly! We learned, inspired, and connected here. I already cannot wait for the next conference and what is to come!

The post Reflecting on the 34th Annual National Service-Learning Conference first appeared on National Youth Leadership Council.

Without reflection, we may focus on what we do for others and not understand all the ways that service contributes to who we are as a person. When service-learning is done with quality, reflection is entwined throughout the student-centered service-learning experience – from investigation and planning, to action and demonstration – reflection helps everyone involved think deeply, critically, and connect to learning outcomes. Students understand what they gained from the experience as much as what they gave.

Last week’s The Power of Young People to Change the World podcast featured two students from Urbana High School’s Project Ignition team. These students reflected on what they are learning while tackling the number one killer of teens, car crashes. When we invite students to reflect on their service, they gain a better understanding of what they have learned. At Urbana, students are not only learning about safer driving habits, they are also learning about marketing and communication, research, and entrepreneurship.

Of course, it is not just students who gain from reflection during service-learning. Adults also gain a deeper understanding of their practice, their students, and themselves. It provides each of us with a new perspective, a new starting point from which to grow as educators and mentors to our students and the communities in which we live and serve. Educators Sarah Miller and Malik Peer are tackling issues of equity through Caring and Committed Conversations that drive changes in school culture and practices. Hear them reflect on their experience and service-learning practice.

Whether you are a student, educator, adult mentor or community member, reflection is a mirror that allows you to see yourself before, during, and after service. It is a way to connect service to learning. Think of it as the hyphen in service-learning. What would service-learning be without reflection? It wouldn’t; service-learning doesn’t exist without it.

The post What would service-learning be without reflection? first appeared on National Youth Leadership Council.

As of September 2021, only 39% of Latinx people in the United States had been fully vaccinated, and Latinx groups continue to have disproportionately higher hospitalization and death rates due to COVID-19.

As a national partner in “PODER en SALUD” (Power in Health), a project of PROCEED, Inc. with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) is engaging youth to reduce these disparities and build capacity in Latinx communities.

Through NYLC’s program model that uses “service-learning” — a teaching and learning approach in which students use academic and civic knowledge and skills to address genuine community needs, teams of middle and high school students have worked to provide bilingual messages to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Latinx communities. Through focus groups, interviews, and surveys with community members, they identified and targeted the effects of COVID-19 vaccine hesitation, misinformation and disinformation, and lack of culturally relevant resources.

“Being a part of PODER en SALUD has been an empowering, captivating experience,” said youth leader, Minerva. “PODER en SALUD is an investment in Latino lives, and I’m so proud to have taken part in it.”

As just one of 19 youth teams across the country selected by NYLC to participate in this program, Ascendencia Northside Prep students created a video, poster, and flyer about youth vaccination and the importance of keeping families safe, by appealing to culturally significant familial values.

Carina Hernandez, a youth team leader working with the Latin American Youth Center, Maryland Multicultural Youth Center, and Camp Fire Patuxent in Prince George’s County, Maryland, said, “Most of our community doesn’t speak English, so when they see someone that speaks their language, they get so happy. The youth can help them in anything they need with being bilingual. That’s a reason why I think that youth should do this type of work, helping out their community and learning things, and it opens up paths for them.”

Generation 1 Club students at Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey, created a brochure and gave a community presentation for current native Spanish speaking high school students, their parents, and local community members. These students collaborated with local resource providers in order to educate their community.

Kudos to all of the teams who have fulfilled their commitment to reducing the overall health disparities in their communities across the country.

The post Latinx Youth Saving Lives Through Culturally-Specific Service-Learning first appeared on National Youth Leadership Council.

Every young person is affected by the symptoms of these challenges whether it be the fear of returning to school after a mass shooting, navigating water shortages, or dealing with microaggressions or bullying in the classroom. There are no easy answers to the challenges of racism, gun violence, climate change, mental health, etc. but one thing we at NYLC know for certain is that young people must be part of the solution.

Engaging young people in service-learning experiences helps them develop the skills, knowledge, and mindset to make meaningful change happen. It creates connection and a sense of belonging to the community through genuine contribution. It helps young people develop new relationships with each other as well as with the adults around them. They are able to tap into their passion, creativity, and ingenuity to address real world issues.

Service-learning is an approach to teaching and learning in which students use academic and civic knowledge and skills to address genuine community needs. It is a type of experiential and project-based learning that drives students’ academic interests and passions toward addressing issues impacting our world. It also builds their capacity to self-manage, make responsible decisions, create relationships, and to be self and socially aware.

Educator L. Al-Tarawneh said it best, “To me, service learning is a budding seed of hope. The power of youth proves to the world that change is possible, and can satiate the everlasting demands of the community…Service learning is the best chisel that reflects the knowledge in books to real life experiences; in other words, it germinates from a change-thirsty community to a blooming one. The youth learn the value of collaboration by establishing partnerships and working together as a team. Definitely, service learning creates influential future leaders”.

We understand that service-learning alone won’t change the world but young people across the country finding their voice and taking action definitely will.

The post Service-Learning is a Budding Seed of Hope first appeared on National Youth Leadership Council.

Before graduating from the Foundation Academies’ Collegiate Academy, a public charter school in Trenton, New Jersey, each student must take a Civic Service-Learning course. Though the course is facilitated by English teacher Colleen DiDonato, the students, who are all in their junior or senior year, develop their service-learning projects together. This year, students from the course have led a service-learning project that has changed the lives of their fellow students — and changed the school itself.

One group of artists, athletes, and young leaders, led by then-junior Nomy Yanes-Castro, all saw the same need in their school’s community: The need to address the mental-health concerns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. With students attending remote classes, separated from friends and teachers, and the threat of illness all around them, students’ mental health was at risk even if they were able to stay safe from COVID. Additionally, the students wanted to focus on how mental illness affects people of color, specifically.

“We really wanted to encourage students to address their issues [along] with others, so everyone really connects, and forms a bond over their mental health, and can really stop the stigmatization,” M.I.N.D. Project member Joscelynn Bernal said on The Power of Young People to Change the World, NYLC’s podcast.

Service-Learning in a Pandemic

These students decided to put together the M.I.N.D. Project, short for “Mental Illness Needs to be Destigmatized.” The students met virtually twice a week to plan, discuss, and set their own SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based). DiDonato facilitated their project by pitching them questions that would aid their critical thinking, as well as looking for community organizations with whom they could partner.

“We gave ideas; she gave us ways to make it reality,” Yanes-Castro said.

With DiDonato’s help, the students have formed an ongoing partnership with the mental health nonprofit Walt’s Waltz to help their classmates destigmatize and quantify their struggles with mental illness. The students also took an 8-hour training from Walt’s Waltz where they learned how to discuss mental illness and what to say (or avoid saying) to those dealing with mental illness.

Navigating Challenges

Though the students were worried that their project would have little impact, the positive feedback from the students’ peers was immediate. More than 40 students attended the two virtual M.I.N.D Resource Fairs – one on the subject of anxiety, the other on depression. Students opened up around each other, drawing self-portraits to portray themselves in a positive light, and writing poetry to express themselves. The unexpected surge of interest did result in a bit of “winging it,” according to Yanes-Castro, but the group plans to account for this in the future as they discuss bringing students back in the fall.

Understanding just how serious mental illness can be, DiDonato helped the students maintain strong boundaries throughout the process. They stressed to the participating students that none of them were mental health experts, and none of them could diagnose one another with mental illnesses. Additionally, the school’s social worker was present at both of the Resource Fairs to talk with anyone who wanted to open up separately from the group.

Taking the Project to Scale

The thorough understanding of mental illness shown by the students, along with their commitment to community partnership and addressing their peers’ needs, has cemented M.I.N.D. as a full-fledged school club going forwards, still student-led and teacher-facilitated as they build the conversation around mental illness. Next October, the group is even planning on hosting a carnival, with the proceeds going to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Not only that, the students have helped change the very structure of Foundations Academy. The administration responded to the M.I.N.D Project by building socialization into the school day itself, in the form of weekly blocks for students to attend clubs and explore their interests. Additionally, DiDonato is seeking to bring service-learning to other classrooms, and ensure that the practice is not relegated to one particular class.

Finally, the M.I.N.D. Project also received NYLC’s own Youth Leadership for Service-Learning Excellence Award, and with it a $1,000 grant to put towards their club’s activities next year.

“It just shows how you never know what you are able to accomplish until you try,” Yanes-Castro said.

The M.I.N.D. Project is a strong example of youth/adult partnership in service-learning. The project was directed by the students themselves, working on an issue they cared about deeply, and fighting to meet the needs of their fellow students. Their teacher provided them with resources and advice, serving as a guide rather than a leader, and trusting her students to meet the challenges they faced head-on, while also ensuring that they were prepared to treat the subject of mental health with care and responsibility.

To learn more about the M.I.N.D. Project, visit the Foundation Academies Blog.

The post The M.I.N.D Project – A Reflection on Successful Service-Learning first appeared on National Youth Leadership Council.

Participating in the 2020 Youth Leadership Summit by NYLC taught me a lot about the importance of leadership and service learning in order to address issues regarding education inequity all over the world.

In this conference, I had the chance to talk to many teenagers from many different parts of the world that wanted to come up with solutions to the education inequity in their own situations. Talking to these very different people, I realized that for many people, education inequity is seen more in terms of the diversity and the intersectionality of the students.  Meanwhile on the other hand, here in Colombia education inequity is seen more in the sense of socioeconomic status and privilege vs poverty.

Coming into the Summit, I did not really imagine and understand that education inequity is definitely seen when it comes to different identities. Then I started to think about it and it definitely made sense and I even started to relate to some of the things that they were saying about the difficulties in education when one has a diverse identity. In my community, the Jewish religion is a minority among the Christian religion. In my school, you can see this as well, with there only being up to 10 Jewish kids in each grade (if any).

This conference for me brought to light the idea of how I myself experience education inequity due to my intersectionality. I am not saying that I have ever felt oppressed by anyone because of my religion but I now realize that in my school, because the majority of the students and staff belong to the Christian religion, Judaism can at sometimes be slightly disregarded. At times I have heard students say jokes about the Holocaust that really impact me given that I am a Jew, but because I have to “fit in”, I just stay quiet and pretend like it’s okay. The Summit showed me that I can stand up for my identity and I should not have to even hear these jokes made about a very harsh subject to my community.

I think that the conference definitely lit up a spark in me and makes me want to stand up and advocate against the hate and anti semitism to my religion. On another note, we also had a session focused on service learning and leadership. I really love doing social service and I learned a lot about how I can be a better leader. By taking the test to see which type of leader I am, I saw that being a South, I am really focused on creating relationships with others and the more human side of service. This kind of confirmed to me that I want to make a difference for people who are facing issues by connecting to them. I also feel like I really got to understand the IPARD (Investigation, Planning & Preparation, Action, Reflection, and Demonstration) process of service much better thanks to the explanation they gave because even though we had seen it in VIP one time, I didn’t really fully understand it. But now, knowing the process I want to apply it to whenever I do social service because I really liked the steps and the way it was organized.

Finally, I learned that many teens have the same fear of trying to make a big difference like me because we are afraid of what others may think. I now know that we are the future of the world and we can actually start making differences now! I want to try to think of a project with the IPARD idea in my mind to see if I find a cause that passions me to want to help!

The post Reflecting on the Youth Leadership Summit on Education Equity first appeared on National Youth Leadership Council.

Unfortunately, this is not the reality for many students across the United States. Issues of equity become readily apparent when students go hungry because they no longer have school breakfast or lunch.  Students may have been assigned a computer from school but the coffee shop or library where they used to connect to the internet to do their homework is no longer open. Or they are isolated in a rural area with limited broadband. The COVID-19 crisis has made the issue of education equity even more apparent.

Young people are the largest stakeholders in the achievement gap. And because they have the most at stake, they also are positioned to make the most profound change. Once exposed to the roots of the issue, they tend to want to learn more about educational equity, to identify solutions, and to serve as change agents in their schools and communities. Analyzing the factors that contribute to the achievement gap enables students to begin to understand how they can affect it.

So, what can students do today to help address issues facing themselves and their fellow students?

• Investigate – What is happening in the community? Survey fellow students to learn about the challenges they are facing; research the community to see what resources are offered; then decide which issue to address.
• Plan and Prepare – Make a plan for how to tackle the issue. Will it require a budget? A timeline? What resources (volunteers, community experts, technology, etc.) will it take to address the issue?
• Action – Put the plan into action.
• Reflect – Reflect on what worked, what didn’t and then…
• Demonstrate – Share with others. Use hashtag #youth4ed on Twitter, tag @nylcorg on Facebook and Instagram, share the story with the local press and with NYLC.

Youth innovation on issues affecting equity will lead to lasting change. By addressing just one factor of the achievement gap, young people and adults can influence the overall outcome of a student’s academic achievement and may be able to affect other factors that are critical to the overall learning experience. The story “Oxford Student Sets Up Volunteer Tutoring Service” is a great example of how students can create solutions to inequity. Student Jacob Kelly set up an initiative to connect college students with school students in need of tutoring services. He has more than 300 volunteers making an impact on the lives of students. Another example comes from StuVoice, a youth-led organization addressing education equity, which has created a petition to colleges and universities to create more equitable admissions process due to the cancellation of ACT and SAT tests. COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates pre-existing inequities in college access, it is critical that urgent action is taken to ensure low-income, minority and other underrepresented student groups have equitable access to the admissions process.

The post Equity in Education During COVID-19 first appeared on National Youth Leadership Council.

Daisy Leonard and her sisters, Coco and Sunny, have problems of global importance to solve. Racial and religious hatred, the decline in the mental health of young people, and the marginalization of girls drove them to create Dynamic Champions of Sisterhood, an online reading club that connects girls from all over the world to help them build confidence, challenge old ideas, and change the world.

The Leonard sisters created DCS with funding provided by the Points of Light Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to engaging with people from all walks of life to help the world meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The sisters presented their ideas at the 2019 Youth Leadership Summit, which was hosted by the National Youth Leadership Council as part of the POLF Conference.

“My colleague Maddy Wegner, Director of Youth Engagement at NYLC, invited us to the Points of Light Foundation Youth Summit when she heard about DCS,” said Daisy, 16. “She saw its potential and knew that the financial and networking support we could gain at the Summit would immensely help us carry out our vision.”

The support from POLF helped the Leonard sisters transform DCS from an informal group to a full-fledged nonprofit organization.  “We wanted a bigger platform to reach more forgotten girls around the world, and be able to give them a stage and unlock the voice inside of them,” said Coco, 15. “By creating the non-profit, not only would we have a better business model that would be long-lasting and sustainable … but also a better way to reach out to foreign organizations in other countries.”

With the help of Facebook and the hard work of skilled translators, DCS has been hosting multiple book clubs with girls from Afghanistan, India, and Togo. The girls from Afghanistan, who call their group Kahari – “sisterhood” in the Dari language – have been reading Les Miserables and discussing isolation and prison. The Indian girls, who call their club Aghnipankh, or “Wings of Fire” in Marathi, have been reading The Diary of Anne Frank and discussing tradition and individuality. The largest group, Le Papillon, French for “The Butterfly,” is made up of girls from Togo, who are all students from a boarding school.

“They all are girls that would ordinarily have no voice and wouldn’t be asked what their opinion is, and they have all felt the feeling of being forgotten by the world,” said Coco. “They all are not only wanting a voice, but are taking the opportunity presented to them and thriving.”

These book clubs are held in order to bring girls together and discuss difficult and often vulnerable subjects openly.  “The truth is that the books pushed participants past personal differences, and into a world where universal truths faced by all girls worldwide could be unearthed,” Daisy said. “Participants could externalize and express their thoughts and feelings through characters in a book.”

The discussions were enlightening, and Coco said that they also corrected many of her misconceptions about girls from other countries.  “I truthfully always thought they just followed whatever their elders told them without question,” Coco said. “But after speaking to them I realized that they do question the ways of their elders, and that they don’t always get along with their parents, and that they also feel like nobody understands.”

A large part of hosting these discussions is healing the rift between human beings caused by the isolation, anxiety, and depression frequently caused by today’s social climate.  “[American girls] aren’t having meaningful conversations,” said Sunny, 13. “Today teens are so caught up in comparing themselves on social media, as well as in everyday stresses, that they unknowingly create a powerful barrier of isolation through ignorance.”

Through leading these discussions, the Leonard sisters and their participants have learned the importance of empathy across borders and the power that girls have in their collective voice.  “This kind of an organization is so important to be able to connect the next generation of young people,” Sunny said. “It gives the next generation a strong sisterhood so that the world is not fearing one another, and so that no girl in this world feels that they are alone and have no voice.”

Learn more about DCS here.

The post Connecting Girls Across the World to Change the World first appeared on National Youth Leadership Council.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, auto crashes are the number one cause of death for teens in this country. Project Ignition is a youth-led response that connects academic goals to address the issue of teen driver safety through service-learning. The grants will support student-designed and student-led campaigns aimed at preventing car crashes in their community.

“Young people have unique capacity to influence their peers’ behaviors. Especially when supported by adult allies, students can save lives by changing practices such as seat-belt use or the decision to not drive under the influence,” said Amy Meuers, NYLC CEO. “Together with The NHTSA, we are honored to provide students and their adult allies with the support they need to transform their ideas into realities and make a measurable difference in teen driver safety. Recognition of these efforts affirms the capabilities of young people to lead effectively on issues that affect their community.”

Each applicant’s plans were evaluated during a rigorous judging process and 20 were selected, in part, based on a commitment to service-learning and the use of proven-effective strategies in changing teen driver behavior. Students will inform, engage and motivate their peers while teachers and afterschool program educators will simultaneously link these activities to academic curriculum. View the full list of participating team here.

The two most effective campaigns that emerge from these 20 will be honored at the 2020 National Service-Learning Conference. Youth representatives from these national leaders will be recognized for their commitment to saving lives and positively impacting the communities in which they live.

The post Twenty Teams Receive Project Ignition Grants to Promote Safer, Smarter Driving first appeared on National Youth Leadership Council.