NYLC CEO Kielsmeier Addresses Peace Corps on International Volunteer Day

In recognition of International Volunteer Day, National Youth Leadership Council founder and CEO James C. Kielsmeier addressed the Peace Corps on Friday, Dec. 5, as part of the Loret Miller Ruppe Speaker Series, a forum for distinguished individuals to speak about issues of volunteerism, international peace developments, and public service.

Calling for schools to “extend their curriculum to become centers of community development,” Kielsmeier said that the time is opportune for “a new vision for the role of youth in society, and new strategies for teaching and learning to engage young people.” He sees service-learning as a strategy that can help young people achieve both domestically and internationally.

Kielsmeier noted that service-learning can help young people transition from childhood dependency to full adult responsibility — a need common to both the developing and developed world. It offers young people opportunities to apply academic skills to community issues, exposes them to a variety of careers, and gives them leadership opportunities beyond those traditionally offered in school settings.

Service-learning is already an international movement, engaging young people across Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. As organizations such as the Peace Corps become more interested in fusing service-learning into volunteer action, Kielsmeier expects service-learning’s reach to expand even further internationally.

The lecture also marks the Peace Corps’ inclusion of the K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice in their Volunteerism Action Guide. NYLC led this national initiative to codify the evidence base for service-learning standards, which were released in April at the National Service-Learning Conference, with support from State Farm Companies Foundation.

For a full copy of the speech delivered at Peace Corps' International Volunteer Day, download the pdf.

Photo courtesy of the Peace Corps.