Support Engaged Education Now

Update: February 2011

The National Youth Leadership Council continues to see the value of unified policy and advocacy for the service-learning field. However, the Engaged Education Now Campaign evolved to include a broader agenda than the initial funding investment could support. As such, in order to ensure we can meet NYLC’s mission, current deliverables, and strategic priorities, NYLC cannot commit to moving forward as the primary driver or organizational host for the EEN campaign at this time.  As the service-learning field rises to meet current challenges, the National Youth Leadership Council is dedicated to advancing the field as a whole by offering resources and collaborating with partners, including those who were initial and important stakeholders in EEN.  To learn more about our current efforts please visit: http://www.nylc.org/programs/public-policy-and-advocacy.

On November 11, a coalition of education and service-learning organizations launches Engaged Education Now, a campaign to improve academic achievement and school success by ensuring that all students have the opportunity to participate in service-learning. “We intend to unite teachers, students, families, businesses, and organizations across the United States to support engaged learning,” said Jim Kielsmeier, NYLC’s founder, CEO, and president. Kielsmeier is leading this new effort to mobilize support for engaged learning strategies within federal education legislation and policy, particularly the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. “We will work together to create a unified vision of the role service-learning plays in engaging all students and enhancing academic achievement,” said Kielsmeier.

Engaged Education Now co-hosts include American Association of School Administrators, Campus Compact, Common Cents, NYLC, Points of Light Institute and HandsOn Network, State Farm Insurance, and the University of Minnesota. “The confluence of education reform, the service movement, and the leadership of young people is what led us to become involved,” said Michelle Nunn, CEO of the Points of Light Institute and co-founder of HandsOn Network. “The only way we can create the macro level change necessary to integrate service-learning into schools is through a coalition-based effort such as this,” said Nunn.

According to NYLC program director Caryn Pernu, “Engaged Education Now has three goals for the initial meeting: We want to unify stakeholders around a policy agenda, agree on the most important research that needs to be done, and begin to mobilize support for engaged teaching and learning.”

A webinar on the campaign is scheduled for Nov. 17, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Central Time. Register for the webinar today.

To learn more about this effort and sign up to be involved, visit www.nylc.org/een.