Does Your Site Serve Hmong Youth?

Attend the 10th Annual Hmong Resource Fair on October 1st! The mission of the Hmong Resource Fair is to provide resources and assistance to members of the Hmong community and to those who work with them.

The Fair brings health, education, employment, housing and a variety of other resources to you every year. The Hmong Resource Fair is committed to providing opportunities and a source of networking with local and national organizations for the community. Through strong partnerships and sponsorships, and the support of our community, Hmong Resource Fair works to make many informational resources free and accessible to the Hmong community and the public.

Taking Bolder Actions: Engaging Youth, Families and Community Members in Solutions

Changing the way you do business means changing who is involved in identifying community issues, as well as who is active in taking action toward solutions. Leaders need to engage youth, families and community leaders as organizers, planners and advocates by ensuring ongoing opportunities for leadership and participation. It's important to have strategies that reach all, not just a few. We'll highlight the work and tools of three Ready by 21 National Partners - America's Promise Alliance, Search Institute and United Way Worldwide - and discuss ways to ensure that your work is engaging youth, families and community leaders to the fullest.

Mark your calendar for September 27, 2011, 3 PM ET, and don't forget to register for this FREE webinar today to learn about taking Bolder Actions in your community!

2011 ACT Report

Here is the 2011 ACT report on Minnesota. It provides up to date information about one aspect of college-readiness: http://www.act.org/news/data/11/states/pdf/Minnesota.pdf

Ready by 21 Webinar on July 26th

The Ready by 21 Partnership is committed to meeting leaders where they are, challenging them to do more, and helping them build the capacity to do so. Included in this endeavor is our free Ready by 21 Webinar series, aimed at introducing participants to the core components of Ready by 21. The webinar series is designed around the Ready by 21 Leadership Capacity areas (the 4Bs): Building Broader Partnerships, Setting Bigger Goals, Using Better Data for Decision Making, and Implementing Bolder Strategies. In our webinar series, we will provide an opportunity to learn the basics of the Ready by 21 Strategies via 3 part modules. Each module will consist of one introductory webinar, one webinar focused on a leadership capacity, and a focused webinar on a related tool or resource. We hope you can join us for this exciting series! Click here to register or contact Kiley Bednar at Kiley@forumfyi.org with any questions.

Win Airline tickets for your program!

From Southwest Airlines --

"In honor of our 40^th Anniversary, we want to spread the LUV even further to the communities we serve by giving 40 deserving nonprofit organizations the chance to win 40 roundtrip tickets each—that’s 1,600 tickets total. Starting July 12 through the end of day on July 14, nonprofit organizations focused on community initiatives that concentrate on education, diversity, military, environment, or families facing serious illness can submit a photo illustrating the positive work they do in the community along with their compelling story to showingluvfor40years@wnco.com to explain how they will use the 40 tickets to achieve the organization’s missions in the community."

You can learn more at http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/showing-luv-communities-40-years

‘Beyond the Numbers’ a documentary film project

Opportunity for youth with University of Minnesota students:

How are students interacting with ‘the numbers’ in their classrooms and schools?
What happens when ‘the numbers’ drive our education?

The Youth Education Justice Initiative (YEJI) is creating a short documentary film exploring the violence that occurs when students are reduced to numbers in their classrooms and schools. This project is being funded by the Summer 612 youth violence prevention campaign. We are working with youth to capture the stories that get silenced by “the numbers” in our education system: test scores, GPA, class rank, application fees, account numbers, student ID tags, graduation rates, school assessments, neighborhood demographics, etc.

This film is being produced collaboratively by students and a community filmmaker. The project will build the skills of youth to create their own media. Numbers do not have voices-Youth Do! Film is a medium through which youth can project those voices to a broad audience and become participants in the dialogues around education from which they are often excluded.

We have worked closely with youth from the Minneapolis Youth Congress and the Whose University? Campaign at the University of Minnesota to develop the vision for the film. These young people are at differing points in their experience in the education system- some are in high school, some have graduated, some are pursuing post secondary education. We are currently looking for a few more youth who are excited about exploring these issues and being a part of a collaborative film project to join the process. If you, or youth you are connected to, are interested in being a part of this project please contact YEJI ---Hana Worku and/or Jake Virden-----by
the end of this week, Friday, July 15th. The summer is moving quickly and so is this film!

Participants are committing to attend regular Saturday meetings and filming sessions that will be scheduled by the group and dependent on the availability of interviewees.

This work will be engaging and fast paced!
Hana Worku- haworku@gmail.com
Jake Worku- jakevirden@gmail.com

BABY PICS!!!

To illustrate how much we’ve grown over the year we’re asking Promise Fellows & Supervisors to send a baby picture (of yourself, under the age of 5) to Rachel Ayoub (email Promisefellow@mnyipa.org or mail to 1494 Grand Ave. St. Paul, MN 55105), with the subject line: BABY PICTURE OF (your name) by Friday, July 22nd! Can't wait to see all your cute faces!

Linking School, Afterschool, and Summer Learning to Support Student Success

There is growing national discussion about the need to create a more expansive definition of learning to include all the ways that youth can access educational opportunities—not just through the traditional school model, but also through afterschool activities, time spent with the family, and increasingly, through interaction with digital media. Broadening our ideas about where, when, and how learning happens helps communities to create richer learning pathways that have the potential to include more nonacademic opportunities to help youth gain the skills necessary for a healthy adulthood, offer a seamless learning environment that can help stem summer learning loss, and tap resources outside of schools for additional opportunities to help close the achievement gap.

Click HERE to access the full PDF.

The CANVAS

This summer, the Canvas will be offering two powerful and unique programs each and every Thursday evening. First, TEENS TAKING ACTION, a series filled with workshops and discussions (and food!) will investigate the intersection of community, social justice and the arts. Second, they'll be kicking off their THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE series, a weekly event focused on showcasing talent, loving the arts and just having fun. From poetry slams to concerts to dance battles and more, these programs will all be FREE.

TXT 2011

AWESOME summer camp opportunity for female students entering 5th-8th grade!!! Three days of college prep at Dakota County Technical College and two days of GEEK SQUAD SUMMER ACADEMY!!! ONLY $25 for the whole week!!! Click here to download the flyer and information about how to register!!

Northside Achievement Zone

Learn more about what's being done in your state to decrease the achievement gap!

Youth Leadership Opportunity through The Frederick Douglass Family Foundation

The Frederick Douglass Family Foundation (FDFF) has announced the formation of a Student Board of Advisors for our 2011-12 service-learning programs. Students that will be entering grades 7-12 in fall 2011 are eligible to apply for a seat on the Board.

They will select 50 students from all over the country that are interested in helping to address the issue of human trafficking. They are looking for outstanding young people to assist in creating service projects that will have a real impact on this global dilemma. FDFF is accepting applications beginning immediately.

Visit their website for an application: http://www.fdff.org/student-advisory-application.html
For more information, please visit www.fdff.org or contact Robert Benz at 702-523-4845

9/11 Service-Learning Grants

For those of you already thinking ahead to next year!


YSA's Youth Council is partnering with State Farm to support youth across the United States in learning about, remembering, and honoring the 10th anniversary of 9/11 through a 9/11 service-learning project.

Available to youth ages 5-25 and teachers/educators who work with youth ages 5-25, YSA will award 10-20 $500 or $1,000 grants to youth-led projects that address important community needs while helping youth - many of who have no first hand memory of the event - remember and honor the 9/11 victims and their families, understand the significance of the event, and commit to sustaining our democracy through service.

Projects will need to address one of YSA's 9 for 9/11 - 9 lessons from the event and related ideas for service-learning projects. Grant applicants can also suggest a 10th lesson. (YSA will select one of these proposed lessons to become the 10th lesson for 9/11, to coincide with the 10th anniversary of 9/11.)

-One-day or limited-duration projects that take place primarily on 9/11 are eligible to apply for $500.
-Projects that take place over an extended period of time (approximately 70 hours) as part of a summer Semester of Service (culminating on 9/11) or a fall Semester of Service (beginning on 9/11) are eligible to apply for $1,000.


Tentative Program Timeline:

Application Deadline: Friday, June 17
Notification: early July
Grant implementation: approximately July through September 11 (Summer of Service); September 11th for one-day projects; or September 11 through MLK Day of Service - January 16, 2012 (fall Semester of Service)
Progress Report Due: Thursday, September 1
Final Report Due: Friday, September 23 for summer or 9/11 Day of Service-only projects; February 1 for fall Semester of Service projects.



Application Process:

To begin the application, take this eligibility quiz. (http://www.cybergrants.com/pls/cybergrants/quiz.display_question?x_gm_id=3187&x_quiz_id=4133&x_order_by=1%20)
Applicants who have already taken the eligibility quiz and started their application can access their application here. (http://www.cybergrants.com/ysa/10for9-11/application)
If you have questions during the application process, please contact grants@ysa.org

Nominations Now Open for PARADE's All America High School Service Team Awards

"PARADE Magazine and generationOn are seeking nominations for The All America High School Service Team, to recognize students who have made exemplary contributions in the service areas of: health, education, environment, economics or community. These students show service as a solution to solve community problems and the power of stories to inspire others to action.

All nominees will receive acknowledgement and thanks in the form of an auto-reply.Everyone should feel good about being nominated or self-nominating. All nominees are appreciated and are winners in the sense that they are helping people and making a difference. The top 50 finalists, 10 per issue category, will receive certificates. The top 15 (3 per issue category), will receive a two-day paid trip to Washington, D.C. to receive their award and special recognition."


For more information, please see Parade's website

Shout-Out Video!

Give KARE 11 Sunrise a "Shout-out!" Submit your school's "Shout-out" video 30 seconds or less to their Facebook wall. We will air some of the videos during Sunrise over the coming weeks! Details in the link...

JUNIORS: In the Quiet of Summer, Start Your Essays

Do you serve at a High School this year? Has your attention been focused on Seniors preparing for college? Don't forget about the juniors! In preparation for their senior year, help your students get a jump start on their college admissions essay. The less hurried months before the onslaught of a highly pressured fall offer the chance for students to think, reflect and connect with a writing topic that can then be developed into 500 words of polished prose.

So how can you teach your students to use the summer before senior year to their best advantage?

Can teachers overcome poverty?

A volunteer's view from the trenches, which is a touching, yet heartbreaking account of a man's efforts to give time and energy to our youth.

The Impact of Youth Development Programs On Student Academic Achievement

While access to high quality schools is a “necessary ingredient for the education of students, good schools alone may not be sufficient to ensure universally high levels of academic development.”

Click here to read more about how youth development programming can promote educational success.

The Battle of Everyouth

"The Battle of Everyouth" is a projection-based performance staged at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for one night, beginning at 10 p.m., as part of the Northern Spark "white night" festival. It will be a blend of live cinema, participatory theater, and live performance, creating a context for exploration and conversation on the theme of global youth and violence.

Students from Washburn High School are working with the artists to interact with the public.

"MIA Inside/Out: Battle of Everyouth" is made possible by a Joyce Foundation Award and a grant from the Friends of the Institute with additional support by Northern Spark.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

24th Street Entrance to MIA

Free Exhibition

Featuring artists Ali Momeni and Jenny Schmid.

Middle School Students

A NY Times article about how to improve the work you do with Middle Schoolers.