Tuesday, July 17, 2007
CONTACT: Sandy Scott
Phone: 202-606-6724
Email: sscott@cns.gov
Philadelphia - The first-ever National Learn & Serve Challenge, a weeklong series of events designed to raise awareness and spread the practice of service-learning, will be held September 17-23, 2007.
The announcement was made today at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, a three-day gathering of the nation’s volunteer and national service leaders taking place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
“We know that students who become involved in their communities through organized, intentional service-learning activities experience a range of benefits, from improved academic achievement to the development of a lifelong ethic of civic involvement,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “By shining a spotlight on the great results that these programs have, we hope to inspire more schools and universities to embrace this powerful and proven teaching method.”
The Corporation is the nation’s largest supporter of service-learning, a teaching method that engages young people in solving problems within their schools and communities as part of their academic studies. The agency funds service-learning programs at thousands of schools and universities through its Learn and Serve America, AmeriCorps, VISTA, and Senior Corps programs.
The National Learn & Serve Challenge is sponsored by the National Service-Learning Partnership and is being supported by a coalition of service-learning and youth service organizations. Through a concentrated week of special events and activities, supporters hope to spotlight service-learning successes around the country in order to build awareness of students’ contributions to their communities; spread effective service-learning practices; and inspire other schools and communities to launch their own programs and projects. More information and project ideas are at http://www.learnandservechallenge.org.
“To build a culture of service in our nation, we need to start our kids early in learning to take responsibility for the well-being of their communities, and then continue to nurture that commitment through their secondary school and college experience,” said Amy Cohen, Director of Learn and Serve America. “One of the most effective ways to do that is through the implementation of high-quality service-learning programs, and the Learn & Serve Challenge is a great way to spread the word.”
To help expand the ranks of the nation’s volunteers, the Corporation for National and Community Service has adopted a five-year strategic plan that includes “Engaging Students in Communities” as one of its key focus areas. National benchmarks to reach by 2010 to meet the plan’s goals include ensuring that at least one-third of teenagers are exposed to service learning in school; increasing to 50 percent the number of America’s K-12 schools that incorporate service learning into their curricula (up from 32 percent in 1999); and engaging 5 million college students in service to their communities, up from 3.27 million in 2005.
“In the years ahead, volunteering and service will be critically important to meeting a wide range of social issues,” said Eisner. “The National Learn & Serve Challenge will help create a pipeline of young people willing to be solutions to problems.”
The Corporation for National and Community Service improves lives, strengthens communities, and fosters civic engagement through service and volunteering. Each year, the Corporation provides opportunities for more than 2 million Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America. For more information, visit http://www.nationalservice.gov.
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