Though we only had one day to meet due to the upcoming winter break, we were busy becoming experts on our new topic: homelessness. As a group, we watched a video from Atlanta's Task Force for the homeless http://www.homelesstaskforce.org/ (under About Us: Our Mission & History). We took a Homelessness Quiz to test our knowledge and learn that there are many generalizations about homelessness that are simply myths. We expanded our knowledge so that we can come up with a service project that will best service the community.
Coming back from break we will dive into this topic more as well as prepare for our upcoming service summit on January 17 and our service project on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 19.
Have a wonderful holiday!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Everyday Leaders Mission Statement
Working together, we can dream, plan and achieve our goals while having fun. We will make the world a better place, because we are leaders of today and tomorrow. We are the Everyday Leaders!
- The student members of Everyday Leaders
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Week Four: Community Asset and Needs Brainstorm
This week, the students started to think about their community and its resources. The students completed a group task called, Who Serves You? where the students researched contact information for their city council members, the mayor, state representatives, federal representatives, etc -- even the president elect! The students will need to refer to these resources throughout the year.
We also discussed our upcoming field trips surround MLK Day (it's a day on!).
On Saturday, January 17th, students will have the opportuniti to attend the 16th Annual Hands On Atlanta Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Summit. Students will particpant in activities and attending youth service seminars.
Monday, January 19th (MLK Day), the students will kick off their service. Students and family members are invited to serve at John Hope Elementary in the King District with environmental and beautification projects.
Permission forms were passed out for both.
Finally, the students completed a Community Assets & Needs assessment and decided that the issue they would like to address for Global Youth Service Day will be homelessness and homeless reflief. More to come as they learn more about the issue and start to develop their project for April!
We also discussed our upcoming field trips surround MLK Day (it's a day on!).
On Saturday, January 17th, students will have the opportuniti to attend the 16th Annual Hands On Atlanta Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Summit. Students will particpant in activities and attending youth service seminars.
Monday, January 19th (MLK Day), the students will kick off their service. Students and family members are invited to serve at John Hope Elementary in the King District with environmental and beautification projects.
Permission forms were passed out for both.
Finally, the students completed a Community Assets & Needs assessment and decided that the issue they would like to address for Global Youth Service Day will be homelessness and homeless reflief. More to come as they learn more about the issue and start to develop their project for April!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The Courier Article
Today, the students wrote an article for the ACMS newsletter, The Courier:
Everyday Leaders is a program that empowers youth to improve their community and focuses on service learning for teens and young people. We will be going to different places to engage in seminars and service projects. Along with improvement of our community and service learning, we will be learning about our strengths and weaknesses and how to come together and take action. So far in our group, we have discussed a few projects we will be working on together in the future. We are working on how to get along with our fellow peers and get past racism, sexism, and other forms of hatred in our world. Everyday Leaders is a productive club that enriches our youth to come together and work together!
- The members of Everyday Leaders
Everyday Leaders is a program that empowers youth to improve their community and focuses on service learning for teens and young people. We will be going to different places to engage in seminars and service projects. Along with improvement of our community and service learning, we will be learning about our strengths and weaknesses and how to come together and take action. So far in our group, we have discussed a few projects we will be working on together in the future. We are working on how to get along with our fellow peers and get past racism, sexism, and other forms of hatred in our world. Everyday Leaders is a productive club that enriches our youth to come together and work together!
- The members of Everyday Leaders
Friday, December 5, 2008
Week Three: Team Building & Diversity
We had a lot of fun this week with new team building games like the Hula Hoop game, the Toilet Paper game, the Action Name game, and more! Tuesday we took a closer look at other youth-led service projects to see what other young minds are accomplishing all over the world. We also started to work on developing our own mission statement (we will post it when it is finalized next week!). Students were asked to work in groups to define TEAM. Here were their responses:
Group One:
T - Together
E - Everyone
A - Acceptance
M - Make a Difference
Group Two:
T - Togetherness
E - Excitement
A - Agility
M - Me and You
Thursday we got serious and had our Diversity discussion. To start it off, we watched the school version of The Teen Files: The Truth About Hate*, which challenged groups of teens around the US--even one from Georgia--to confront their prejudices around race, religion, ethnicity, and sexuality. Following the movie, we held an open discussion where students were able to talk about and define diversity, tolerance, and compassion. All students were very respectful of one another and many profound observations where made. Eighth grade students were even able to draw on previous class discussions in Mr. Fine's advisory about gender.
We tied this discussion into our Kick Off for Service which will be on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Dr. King's ideas surrounding the Beloved Community. The students even were even inspired with project ideas from the discussion. Next week we are getting into Community Asset Mapping and we will be gearing up for service projects to come in the new year!
*AIMS Multimedia: An Arnold Shapiro Production, 1999
Group One:
T - Together
E - Everyone
A - Acceptance
M - Make a Difference
Group Two:
T - Togetherness
E - Excitement
A - Agility
M - Me and You
Thursday we got serious and had our Diversity discussion. To start it off, we watched the school version of The Teen Files: The Truth About Hate*, which challenged groups of teens around the US--even one from Georgia--to confront their prejudices around race, religion, ethnicity, and sexuality. Following the movie, we held an open discussion where students were able to talk about and define diversity, tolerance, and compassion. All students were very respectful of one another and many profound observations where made. Eighth grade students were even able to draw on previous class discussions in Mr. Fine's advisory about gender.
We tied this discussion into our Kick Off for Service which will be on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Dr. King's ideas surrounding the Beloved Community. The students even were even inspired with project ideas from the discussion. Next week we are getting into Community Asset Mapping and we will be gearing up for service projects to come in the new year!
*AIMS Multimedia: An Arnold Shapiro Production, 1999
Friday, November 21, 2008
Week Two: Personal Asset Mapping & Goal Setting
We really started to dive in this week! We continued with ice-breakers and team building activities. Each student completed a Person Skills Inventory and we used those to discuss all of the skills that we as a team bring to the group. We discussed each group member's strengths and identified how we would use our own team members for support based on the skills that they have. From there, we looked at some of the skills that we would like to develop and created personal goals for the course. Students also examined their personalities and we saw character similarities and differences that we all possess. Our final team building activity centered around trust, as we broke into pairs. One person was blind-folded while the other led his/her partner around the media center. One pair went out into the hallway and even tried using the drinking fountain blindfolded!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Week One: Introduction
The first week of Everyday Leaders was great! It is a small, but energetic group of 6th and 8th graders ready to make a difference! We spent the first week getting to know one another and learning more about service-learning, civic engagement, leadership, and youth empowerment. We also watched a short video on Global Youth Service Day (check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTIVKluZV0o).
Students were able to pick out their own special journal and have started filling them in with notes and freewrites from the days. They are used as a way of communicating with the facilitator as well. As a group, students established the rules for the club. They then participated in team building activities and ice-breaker games. We a had a lot of fun with the human knot--especially when we couldn't talk!
Students were able to pick out their own special journal and have started filling them in with notes and freewrites from the days. They are used as a way of communicating with the facilitator as well. As a group, students established the rules for the club. They then participated in team building activities and ice-breaker games. We a had a lot of fun with the human knot--especially when we couldn't talk!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
What is Everyday Leaders? FAQs
What is Everyday Leaders?
An after-school club at Atlanta Charter Middle School for youth who want to make a difference in their school, their community, and the world.
When does Everyday Leaders meet?
Tuesdays & Thursdays after school from 4pm – 5:30 pm. The program starts Tuesday, November 11th.
What is Service-Learning?
Senator John Glenn said, “Service-learning is education in action.” Service-learning allows students to take classroom concepts and apply them to real life community needs. It creates socially responsible students who, through preparation, action, and reflection, demonstrate leadership in their own communities.
What will we do?
Throughout the year, students will learn about civic engagement and community service by taking action. Students will participant in service projects throughout the year and learn the skills necessary to lead their own projects. As a team, students will create, plan, and do their own community service project for Global Youth Service Day in April. They will not only be a part of this youth movement, they will be in charge of it. Students will be able to go above and beyond their required community service hours as well as take on leadership roles.
Who is facilitating the club?
The club will be facilitated by Hands on Atlanta AmeriCorps member Laura Cleare who is excited to work with passionate youth and empower them to become leaders in their own school and communities everyday. Laura grew up in Minneapolis, MN where she has been working with youth development for six years through coaching, afterschool initiatives, recreation programs day treatment centers, tutoring, and mentoring. Two of those years were spent volunteering in a middle school. She is in her second year serving as an AmeriCorps member. This year, she is currently the Discovery Program Coordinator at Hands On Atlanta. After attending the National Youth Leadership Council last spring, she was inspired to create a service learning curriculum tailored toward middle school youth. She has a passion for civic engagement and wishes to provide youth with an outlet for their own passions.
Why the blog?
This is a way for parents, students, and others in the ACMS community can check in and see what we are up to! Everyone is welcome to make comments. Happy reading!
An after-school club at Atlanta Charter Middle School for youth who want to make a difference in their school, their community, and the world.
When does Everyday Leaders meet?
Tuesdays & Thursdays after school from 4pm – 5:30 pm. The program starts Tuesday, November 11th.
What is Service-Learning?
Senator John Glenn said, “Service-learning is education in action.” Service-learning allows students to take classroom concepts and apply them to real life community needs. It creates socially responsible students who, through preparation, action, and reflection, demonstrate leadership in their own communities.
What will we do?
Throughout the year, students will learn about civic engagement and community service by taking action. Students will participant in service projects throughout the year and learn the skills necessary to lead their own projects. As a team, students will create, plan, and do their own community service project for Global Youth Service Day in April. They will not only be a part of this youth movement, they will be in charge of it. Students will be able to go above and beyond their required community service hours as well as take on leadership roles.
Who is facilitating the club?
The club will be facilitated by Hands on Atlanta AmeriCorps member Laura Cleare who is excited to work with passionate youth and empower them to become leaders in their own school and communities everyday. Laura grew up in Minneapolis, MN where she has been working with youth development for six years through coaching, afterschool initiatives, recreation programs day treatment centers, tutoring, and mentoring. Two of those years were spent volunteering in a middle school. She is in her second year serving as an AmeriCorps member. This year, she is currently the Discovery Program Coordinator at Hands On Atlanta. After attending the National Youth Leadership Council last spring, she was inspired to create a service learning curriculum tailored toward middle school youth. She has a passion for civic engagement and wishes to provide youth with an outlet for their own passions.
Why the blog?
This is a way for parents, students, and others in the ACMS community can check in and see what we are up to! Everyone is welcome to make comments. Happy reading!
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