Project Description

The Live Oak Wrestling club is a creation of a newer and brighter opportunity for students in 6th to 12th grade. The sport of wrestling is growing in the area and this gives them an opportunity to join a sport which can mentally and physically prepare them for life. It is one of only three programs like this in the city area and provides the experience needed with 5 coaches and enough experience to give any child the chance to excel.

Project Description

Our purpose here at Science Days is to provide female middle school students an after-school program which focuses on science and mathematics. Females, especially minorities, are under-represented in many higher learning institutions majoring in science and mathematics. The future of the world will be placed upon the shoulders of our future engineers, scientists, mathematicians, etc. The current and potential problems that the world will face within the next decade will directly affect this generation. Science Days hopes to change this by exposing young girls to the wonders and mysteries of science and mathematics, hopefully persuading some to pursue a career in mathematics and science or obtain a strong background in science and mathematics.

Project Description

We are a team of eleven students from NBC Middle School in Montague, Michigan. We will be addressing our school board this spring on the issue of combatting childhood obesity in our district.

We have three goals: to improve fitness, health education and nutrition at our school. We have researched these three areas and are prepared to make recommendations for change to our district curriculum. We want our kids to be more active, eat more healthy and know more about what it takes to have a lifetime of fitness.

Project Description

I started a middle school mentoring and tutoring program at the Alex Spears YMCA in Greensboro. As Volunteer-Coordinator, I arranged a group of specially chosen high school students to have spend an hour or two one or two times a week with middle schoolers that are in the YMCA after-school program. "Helping" them is a general term to describe all of the various things our tutors do. If the child needs someone to have fun with in a group game of capture the flag, we're there, if they need to discuss a problem, we listen, if they need assistance with school work, we are on top of it. Basically we are doing everything in our power to make sure this group of children develops to their full potential as we try and provide an undivided attention that many public schools and busy parents don't have the opportunity to give. I have an amazing amount of faith in this generation, and I want to inspire and challange as many people as I can to be the best they can be, and ideally this will grow exponentially.

Project Description

The mission of day of caringis to promote youth service and leadership in a postivie and comfortable environment, encouraging students to become proactive members of the community, to make connections with service organizations so as to continue volunteering and to understand what it means to make an impact. Thirty-eight different projects will be offered throughout Clark County, which will help to make a significant impact on the local community. Day of Caring has grown from a small pilot project five years ago to a school-wide event with over 30 community projects serving children, adults, and animals. Some of the projects for Day of Caring include volunteering at the YMCA, Red Cross, the firestation, assisted living facilities, the Humane Society, local food banks and elementary schools throughout the school district.

Project Description

The Wired Youth Ministry is a ministry for Middle school students in the area around CrossPoint CRC. Wired gives students a place to hang out on Wednesday nights and gives them a place where they can have fun and be safe at the same time. We give the students a chance to understand their beliefs and to figure out what exactly they believe.

Project Description

I have met my hero! My name is Megan Stewart-Felt, and in 1999, I began work with friends on a drama presentation in my small high school. I knew that I wanted to learn more about the Holocaust and in searching for topics I stumbled across a short article about a woman that saved over 2,500 Jewish children. This unsung hero of the Holocaust is Irena Sendler and she is 97 years old this year. She risked her life nearly everyday to smuggle children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, found hiding places for them, and buried their written identities in a jar beneath an apple tree. This is why my project is called, Life in a Jar.

Within the school year, news had spread about the unlikely story of a Protestant girl from Kansas discovering a Polish Catholic woman that saved Jewish children. One of the child survivors that Irena saved said, “You have rescued her story for the world, you have rescued the rescuer.”

Now, this drama that I wrote in ninth grade has been presented over 225 times, in three countries. More than 2,000 students, 200 teachers, and 30,000 audience members have seen the Life in a Jar performance in which I play the part of Irena. Millions of people have heard the message of respect and understanding through media agencies including the Today Show, Associated Press, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Warsaw Gazette, and CNN. Political and social leaders have also supported and publicized my mission to tell Irena’s story and fight discrimination and prejudice. Just this year I, along with other members of Life in a Jar, assisted the Polish government and Israel in Irena’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Through this project, I have had the opportunity to interact with people of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist faith that come from every corner of this world and hail to every ethnicity. I realized that these people from all backgrounds were coming to the performance wanting to be a part of the hope that the children felt when Irena saved them and discover how they too can make a difference in this world.

Life in a Jar has become a non-profit foundation dedicated to telling the story of Irena Sendler. Though sadly, as each generation gets older, we are losing the heroic people of the Holocaust. The stories of those that survived as well as the legacies of those that did not, must continue to be told. This is the basis for the continued outreach of the play, and why I have also begun helping other teachers and students develop projects like Life in a Jar that promote cultural awareness. The web site, www.irenasendler.org was established to supplement Holocaust and tolerance education, and I plan to develop a curriculum guide to accompany a DVD of the play.

Since beginning this diversity project, I have been witness to an amazing change in my own community where diversity does not exist. Fellow students, teachers, friends, and family have developed a sensitivity and knowledge of other people and their cultures with whom we have connected. I believe that through continued commitment to teaching tolerance and understanding, this same result can be seen in every neighborhood, every nation, all around the world.

Project Description

I teach a 7th grade Religious Education classes for my church. I help them understand what the Catholic Church teaches and how to deal with being a minority in the Bible Belt of America. I help them understand why the Catholic Church takes stands on political issues and the importance of taking a stand. I help them to tell others of the misconcepitions of out faith and the correct teaching or belief.

Project Description

I started Tunes 4 the Troops to let the military know that kids like me support them. It dosen't matter if you support the war or not, that isn't what Tunes 4 the Troops is about. It is all about supporting our Troops!

So many of the guys and girls that are serving overseas arn't much older than I am. I wanted to find a way to make a difference. I was only 14 at the time I heard that care packages from home have lots of things that are needed and not to many of the wants were sent, like movies and music. So I gatherd all my old CD's and DVD's and asked my friends for the ones they didn't want any more.

Now 2 years later I along with my 100+ locations across the country we have sent almost 120,000 CD's and DVD's to the Troops with a value of over $1,900,000.00!!

Go to my web site www.tunes4thetroops.org to see what I and others have done to help support our military.

Thank you to The Montel Williams Show (for having me on twice.) Channel One News, The Military Channel and The Pentagon Channel for the great interviews, and helping get the word out about how to help support our troops.