Boys & Girls Clubs in New Jersey AmeriCorps Program introducing YES! Youth Engaged in Service

What will I be doing? 3 components. 1 ServiceLearning 2 Volunteer Recruiting 3 National Days of Service Volunteer Recruiting

Create & lead YES Club Y Work directly with youth to implement a service learning curriculum

Create & lead YES Club E Recruit min. 25 youth Hold weekly meetings Take attendance at all meetings Send in monthly reports

Create & lead YES Club S Research, plan and engage service learning activities These can be planned around monthly themes or a National Day of Service

LEARN THE ROPES! SHADOW STAFF & GET TO KNOW THE KIDS BEFORE YOU START YOUR YES PROGRAM Take the time to plan out your YES Club plans.

How do I start the YES Club? Determine a long term schedule – Fall, winter, spring and summer mini YES clubs – Marking Period based YES clubs – Semester Yes Clubs Each YES Club must run a min. 6-8 weeks A child must attend your YES program for 6 weeks min.

“…a teaching and learning approach that integrates community service with academic study to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.” What is Service Learning?

Adapted from the National and Community Service Act of 1990 Corporation for National and Community Service Promotes learning through active participation Provides structured time for students to reflect Provides an opportunity to use skills and knowledge in real-life situations Extends learning beyond the classroom Fosters a sense of caring for others

Service-learning is not: An episodic volunteer program An add-on to an existing school or college curriculum Completing minimum service hours in order to graduate Service assigned as a form of punishment Only for high school or college students One-sided: benefiting only students or only the community

Service Learning Example: When students remove trash from a streambed, analyze what they found, share the results and offer suggestions for the neighborhood to reduce pollution, and then reflect on their experience THAT is service-learning! Community Service Example: If students remove trash from a streambed: they are providing a service to the community as volunteers An Example of Service Learning?

Common characteristics of authentic service-learning students are able to identify the most important issues within a real-world situation through critical thinking promotes deeper learning; there are no "right answers" in the back of the book generates emotional consequences, which challenge values and ideas supports social, emotional and cognitive learning and development

Common characteristics of authentic service-learning positive, meaningful and real to the participants cooperative rather than competitive experiences; promotes teamwork and citizenship addresses complex problems in complex settings rather than simplified problems in isolation engages problem-solving in the specific context of service activities and community challenges, rather than generalized or abstract concepts from a textbook

Added benefits of service-learning National studies suggest that students in effective service-learning programs: improve academic grades increase attendance in school develop personal and social responsibility

Why Do Service Learning? Because it… ◦ Promotes numerous academic skills:  Problem Analysis  Critical Thinking  Logical Reasoning  Detailed Observation  Issue Identification ◦ Enhances  Student Motivation to Learn  Student Retention ◦ Improves Student Learning Outcomes ◦ Encourages ◦ Sustainability ◦ Civic Engagement

How do we do it? Through youth empowerment and reflection, students will... Prepare/Research Take action Reflect Celebrate/Demonstrate

Service-Learning Step 1: Research Students identify a need in the community by discussion, site visits, websites, newspapers, interviews, etc.

Service-Learning Step 2: Direct—Person-to-person service, ex. tutoring or working with elderly. Indirect—Projects that benefit a community, ex. environmental awareness, construction, restoration, food drives. Advocacy—Students write, speak, lobby, or act to create awareness about issues in the community. Action Service that flows from research. Types of action include:

Service-Learning Step 3: Reflect Writing, discussion (what happened?), evaluation, project refinements, future planning, etc. Students reflect through-out the project, not only at the end. Reflection activities are planned and not left to chance.

Service-Learning Step 4: Demonstrate Students present, teach, or perform what they have learned through the service they have provided. Celebrate Students and partners should be recognized for their accomplishments. Remember: Youth Empowerment! Students should have a voice in all aspects of the project.

Pre & Post Survey At the 1 st YES Club meeting: Administer the YES Club pre survey to all students participating in your YES Club Every student in your YES Club must take this PRE SURVEY to be considered a member! Once you collected all surveys send to BGCNJ state office At the last YES Club meeting Distribute post survey to all YES Club members Collect surveys and send to BGCNJ state office

What will I be doing? 3 components. 1 ServiceLearning 2 3 National Days of Service Volunteer Recruiting

Event Dates OCTOBER 26, 2012 MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY NOVEMBER 17, 2012 NATIONAL FAMILY VOLUNTEER DAY *JANUARY 21, 2013 MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY APRIL 21-27, 2013 NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK *APRIL 26-28, 2013 GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY MAY 4, 2013 JOIN HANDS DAY *APRIL 14-20, 2013 AMERICORPS WEEK

Community Members Community Events

Community Partners Community Events

Organize, plan, prepare! How do I plan a community event? Refer to your member manual for a full event planning guide.

What will I be doing? 3 components. 1 ServiceLearning 2 3 National Days of Service Volunteer Recruiting

Why recruit volunteers? 1. SUPPORT FOR YOUR EVENTS ON NATIONAL DAYS OF SERVICE 2. ASSIST BGC WITH VOLUNTEER RECRUITING AND MANAGEMENT

Reasons to recruit volunteers Why? Promote volunteerism in the community Provide opportunities for project-oriented problem solving, planning, teaching, researching, networking and increasing community awareness THE GOAL IS TO TURN PEOPLE ON TO SERVICE SO THEY WILL BECOME LIFE-LONG VOLUNTEERS!

Reasons to recruit volunteers Why? Promote volunteerism in the community Provide opportunities for project-oriented problem solving, planning, teaching, researching, networking and increasing community awareness THE GOAL IS TO TURN PEOPLE ON TO SERVICE SO THEY WILL BECOME LIFE-LONG VOLUNTEERS!

Ask your site supervisor what kind of volunteers they need Determine what type of volunteers you will need for National Days of Service Eg. high school students, college students, 55+, teachers, corporate teams, interns Does you Club site need a volunteer policy, manual, flyers, descriptions? Recruit Volunteers RESEARCH!

Each month, two (2) reports will be due: YES Club Report Volunteer Activity Report Reports are due on the 5 th of every month and describe what you did the month before Monthly Reports CRUCIAL!

How do I clock in? In your member manual, there is a weekly time sheet, use this to track your hours of service. You will notice there are three (3) categories: service, training, fundraising. Depending on your daily activities, you will designate your service hours as one of those three categories. Make copies of the time sheet so you have one for every week! Hang onto these for your own records! To certify your hours, refer to the NJ Service log instructions in your member manual At the end of each week, log onto service log website and add your hours Once you add your hours, your site supervisor will approve, then BGCNJ will approve

» Service counts as: any direct service with youth, volunteers or programming » Training counts as: attending training workshops, webinars, conferences and seminars » **All AmeriCorps members are required to attend one (1) training per month » Fundraising counts as: collecting/soliciting items for programming » **permission is needed before any fundraising projects begin! 3 Categories of Service

CONGRATULATIONS! Wahoo!! You are now part of the 1 st BGCNJ YES Corps Class!

Q Questions/comments?