SBCEO to lead national and global youth service day

The Santa Barbara County Education Office (SBCEO) was chosen to be a Lead Agency for the 2006 National and Global Youth Service Day celebrations April 21 to 23, 2006. Students in Santa Barbara, Kern, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties will join millions of their peers as part of this international volunteering movement.

National and Global Youth Service Day, the largest service event in the world, mobilizes young people to identify and address community needs through service, supports youth on a life-long path of service and civic engagement, and educates the public about the role of youth as leaders and assets.

Awarded by Youth Service America and funded by State Farm Companies Foundation, the Lead Agencies “unleash the ingenuity, passion, and idealism of young people, ages 5 to 25, to transform their communities through year-round service-learning and civic engagement activities as part of National and Global Youth Service Day,” explained County Superintendent Bill Cirone, whose office coordinates the program.

Planning tool kits, service-learning curriculum guides, classroom posters, grants, and more are available for youth, parents, teachers, and organizations. A listing of all of the 2006 National and Global Youth Service Day Lead Agencies is available at: http://www.ysa.org/nysd/local_celeb/leadagencies2006.cfm.

The SBCEO is dedicated to enhancing service and leadership in the county. As a Lead Agency, it will extend beyond the county borders to bring together organizations in all of California’s Region 8 (Santa Barbara, Kern, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties) to participate in a Regional Youth Service Event to culminate on National and Global Youth Service Day.

The goal of the Regional Event is to support youth projects; help youth gain recognition for their work; publicize city, county and regional service projects; enhance community ownership; and celebrate the services provided by youth. Any agency, school, club, or group that has a cross-age community service or service-learning project was invited to register with the Region’s National and Global Youth Service Day Event. Cross age could mean youth working with adults or older youth working with younger youth.

The group’s project can take place any time between Nov. 1 and April 23, and participants will be recognized at one of several celebratory rallies scheduled throughout the Region on April 21 to 23.

Middle and high school students in each county are forming youth planning committees to coordinate the event and the celebratory rallies. The youth will promote and advertise local projects and will create a website for the regional event. Each county is still looking for more youth to be on the planning committees. More information on the event is available at http://www.sbceo.org/careers/youth.

“Youth Service America is grateful for the generous support from State Farm Companies Foundation and its continued commitment to connecting community service with classroom learning through service-learning programs,” said Steve Culbertson, president and CEO of Youth Service America. “Through State Farm’s help the Lead Agencies serve as powerful local, regional, and statewide allies that provide expertise, leverage community resources, and support young people on a lifelong path of service and civic engagement.”

Kita Schmidt, the AmeriCorps VISTA at SBCEO who is spearheading the Regional Event for National and Global Youth Service Day said, “This is the first time that the four counties have come together for a large-scale youth service activity. It is inspiring to see youth so motivated and groups so interested in participating. The great thing about this National and Global Youth Service Day Event is that it is so inclusive and easy to take part, and we are confident that it will bring attention, recognition, and support to everyone who participates,” she said. “We hope that everyone will consider getting involved.”

Youth Service America (YSA) is a resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people, ages 5 to 25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally. Founded in 1986, YSA’s mission is to strengthen the effectiveness, sustainability, and scale of the youth service and service-learning fields. A strong youth service movement will create healthy communities and foster citizenship, knowledge, and the personal development of young people. YSA envisions a powerful network of organizations committed to making service and service-learning the common expectation and common experience of all young people. In addition to National & Global Youth Service Day, which take place concurrently each April, YSA also hosts SERVEnet (http://www.SERVEnet.org/), providing the largest database of volunteer opportunities in America. For more information: http://www.YSA.org/.