NYLC Honored by Louisiana Lt. Governor
nylc honored
In October, The Louisiana Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Culture, Recreation, and Tourism honored NYLC, State Farm, and Sophie B. Wright Charter School with the Certificate of Proclamation for Shining the Light on Louisiana. The proclamation recognizes the organizations' collaboration on the Gulf Coast WalkAbout.
In October, The Louisiana Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Culture, Recreation, and Tourism honored NYLC, State Farm, and Sophie B. Wright Charter School with the Certificate of Proclamation for Shining the Light on Louisiana. The proclamation recognizes the organizations' collaboration on the Gulf Coast WalkAbout.
For the past two years, NYLC's WalkAbout service-learning summer-school program has helped students in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas rebuild their communities after the destruction caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
"Gulf Coast WalkAbout has been an amazing journey for all of us," said NYLC Vice President Wokie Weah, who accepted the award. "These students and teachers decided it was past time to wait for help from the outside. They are true community leaders. They surveyed their communities' needs, developed plans to meet those needs, and made tangible improvements in their communities. We are honored to receive this proclamation but even more honored to work with these amazing young people who have inspired us all."
This award followed the September kick off of yearlong WalkAbout programs at Sophie B. Wright in New Orleans and schools in Moss Point, Miss., and Port Arthur, Texas — sites that have participated over the past two summers.
Demand for the Gulf Coast WalkAbout program led to its expansion, which integrates service-learning into regular school programs for the 2007-08 school year, said NYLC Youth and Schools Initiatives Director Libby Rau. "Students and teachers loved the summer program and wanted to be able to focus on longer-term projects."
The kick-off was timed to coincide with Learn and Serve Challenge Week, September 17-23, 2007, a nationwide effort to increase public understanding of service-learning. NYLC and the Gulf Coast WalkAbout sites also recently joined in a celebratory summit hosted by the Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, La. The event highlighted service-learning projects from the region, and drew about 600 students and educators to showcase their work.
