NYLC Kicks Off Summer with Trainings

This summer NYLC will lead a series of service-learning trainings across the nation for youth and educators ranging from intensive professional development seminars for educators in the South to summer service-learning programs for youth in the Midwest. NYLC will provide diverse groups interested in service-learning the tools necessary to make their efforts a success.

Kicking off the summer, NYLC trained 40 Americorps members in New Orleans, Atlanta, and Birmingham on implementing service-learning curriculum for a summer service program. These Americorps members will spend the summer using what they learned to do needs-based assessments of communities and developing service-learning projects with their students across the South.

In June, NYLC staff will train Guilford County Schools’ faculty and curriculum specialists on integrating service-learning into their curriculum. Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, the district has committed to implementing service-learning for its entire student population of 71,000. NYLC will assist the development of two service-learning thematic units and resources aligned with North Carolina’s Standard Course of Study for each grade level, K-8, and 10th grade English and world history. NYLC staff also will provide training on developing a service-learning graduation project requirement and implementing building-level service-learning strategies.

Closer to home, NYLC will assist Barack and Michelle Obama Service-Learning Elementary in St. Paul on implementing NYLC’s WalkAbout summer service-learning curriculum. Students will delve into the history of the Saint Paul Rondo Neighborhood and collect oral histories. Using assessment and multimedia tools, students will assess the neighborhood‘s condition and explore new ways to find out about community issues.

NYLC will also train and engage a group of 14- to18-year-olds and their adult mentors through July’s National Youth Leadership Training at Voyageur Environmental Center in Mound, Minn. As part of the year-round National Service-Learning Leadership Program, a diverse group of participants from across the country will gather to gain skills through leadership seminars, cultural events, and service-learning projects that explore issues such as the achievement gap, race relations, oppression, and ethics. These youth-adult teams will learn how to implement and sustain service-learning initiatives throughout the school year.

Capping off a summer of professional development, NYLC will also host the Seventh Annual National Urban Service-Learning Institute in St. Paul August 11-13. This professional development gathering of educators, community members, researchers, and young people, is designed to help urban schools achieve academic excellence through service-learning. Participants will explore current trends in urban education, share strategies for youth leadership, and interact with renowned speakers and researchers.

NYLC’s summer trainings are sure to enhance service-learning’s impact across the country and ignite new community transformations.