High school students to award $40,000 in Service-Learning grants

11/14/00 - Thirty-one high school students will gather at Kennesaw State University Saturday, Nov. 18 to decide who gets the $40,000.

The students, representing 31 high schools throughout Georgia, comprise the state Youth Council of 21st Century Leaders. This year, the council will distribute $40,000 in grants to Georgia schools for student-led Service-Learning projects as part of the Georgia Learn and Serve Youth Voice initiative.

"These students make all the decisions: what questions are on grant applications, the deadlines for applications, who is awarded the money, everything," Youth Voice Coordinator Anna Huddleston said. "The Georgia Learn and Serve program really gives youth the money and the power to be service leaders in their schools and in the state."

The council will award Georgia students three types of Youth Voice grants with funds provided by Georgia Learn and Serve and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

Youth Service-Learning Council Grants of up to $1,000 will go to selected students for the development of new Service-Learning councils in their schools. These councils will turn that money into mini-grants, which they will award to their schools' teachers for Service-Learning projects.

Youth Voice Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded to schools that have demonstrated success with previous Service-Learning councils and a TBS AtlantaKidsCare Grant of $5,000 will provide twenty-five $200 grants to student-led service projects.

"Youth-led Service-Learning programs are a wonderful way to reinforce academic skills, strengthen school-community relationships and develop future leaders," Director of Service-Learning at KSU Dick Grover said. "I am thrilled to be partnering with 21st Century Leaders and TBS on this innovative program."

Service-Learning is a teaching methodology practiced in schools nation-wide that places community service in the curriculum, fostering responsible citizenship in students and strengthening the impact of classroom lessons.

The Youth Voice initiative was created in Sept. 1999 to empower middle and high school youth to lead their schools in Service-Learning. The program is an initiative of Georgia Learn and Serve within the Georgia Department of Education. Funding for Georgia Learn and Serve, a K-12 program managed by Kennesaw State University, is provided by the Corporation for National Service and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.