Entrepreneurship Award Program - Winner receives $10,000

The Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Award Program is designed to reward the enterprising spirits of young women ages 12-18.

15 young women who demonstrate budding entrepreneurship, are taking the first steps toward financial independence, and are making a difference in their schools and communities will win prizes totaling $30,000! The first place winner will receive $10,000, the second place winner will receive $5,000 and the third place winner will receive $3,000. Twelve finalists will receive $1,000. All prizes will be used to further the winner’s entrepreneurial pursuits or to save for college.

Here is the entry form for the Girls Going Places Awards.

All submissions must be postmarked by February 28, 2011 and sent to:

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America

Attn: Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Award Program

7 Hanover Square, H26-J

New York, NY 10004

The World & Me Youth Poetry Contest

Split This Rock seeks young people's poems on the theme:

“The World & Me”

• What about your neighborhood/city/country/planet makes you happy and proud?
• What makes you sad? If you were in charge, what would you change?
• Are there issues you care deeply about?
• Are there situations in the news or in your neighborhood that make you mad? Or glad?

If so, tell them in a poem!

Eligible Writers: Poets must live in or attend school in DC and qualify for either of the following age groups:

• Ages 12 and under;or
• Ages 13 and up

Directions: Please print and complete the application form with legible handwriting.

Then send it by mail by Friday, January 14, 2011 to:

Split This Rock/The World & Me Poetry Contest

1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600

Washington, DC 20036

Questions? Email Alicia Gregory 

or call 202-787-5210.

OUDC - Application deadline extended to THIS Friday, November 19th.

Operation Understanding DC (OUDC) is a year-long, experiential, leadership development program that introduces students to other students who are passionate about pursuing social justice.

OUDC is currently looking for motivated, high school juniors who are:

• Eager to create change and promote social justice;
• Proud of their heritage and identity;
• Leaders or have leadership potential; and
• Involved in their communities.

The mission of OUDC is to provide quality programming to students and to build a generation of African American and Jewish community leaders who promote respect, understanding and cooperation while working to eradicate racism, anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination. OUDC participants will engage in honest dialogues about slavery, the Holocaust, the Civil Rights Movement, current national and international issues, religion, spirituality, and much more.

Beginning in July, OUDC students will travel from New York City to the Deep South to explore their histories and create their blueprints for future activism. Each day, the students will hear from inspirational speakers, receive educational tours, and learn from life-changing experiences.

The application, recommendation forms and Sample Program Schedule can be downloaded from the OUDC website: www.oudc.org. Please note: Applications are due Wednesday, November 10, 2010.

My Experience at Camp Echo Hill - ShaQuan Moore

   

When I first arrived at Echo Hill Camp, it looked like a military base. We slept in a tent and we had bug nets to protect us from the bugs. I had five other roommates, Josh, Christian, Tavis, Austin, and NBB. I also had two counselors, Tim and Nick.

There were plenty of activities available at Echo Hill Camp, including: basketball, tennis, paintball, pellets, archery, crabbing, fishing, sailing, kayaking, bageling, water skiing, wake, knee, and belly boarding, swimming, arts, music, ultimate Frisbee and swamp mucking. While participating in these activities, I won a few awards, including: Land sports, Land sports king, fishing, bageling and 3^rd class waterskiing, wake and knee boarding. The awards were different because they weren’t made out of metal – they were made out of wood. That was so amazing that they could make awards out of wood!

I had a great experience while at Echo Hill Camp. Everything – from the counselors, the activities, the campers, the two formal dances, and the food – everything was great!

On our last day, we were awakened at 2:00am to go to Echo Ring. Echo Ring is when we all sit around and the counselors told us one by one their experience as a counselor. Not once while I was away did I get homesick. But, after all the packing, the ride back home, greeting and seeing my mom and all of the hugs and kisses, it was good to be home.

 Thank you SEED Public Charter School for giving me this most wonderful experience!

Summer Programs@ The Island School

In addition to releasing their application to study abroad during the 2011-12 school year, The Island School has also announced that there are 4 summer programs available for MS and US students.

The Eleutheran Explorers Camp is an opportunity for students ages 9-13 to live on a "green" campus and learn skills in leadership, marine biology, sustainable systems, confidence, and self-reliance.

Here is a flyer for the Explorers Camp and students can register for the camp here. Applications for the Explorers Camp are due on April 1, 2011.

The Island School also offers a Shark Week program for students who are 16 and older. During Shark Week, students will:

·       Live on a green campus and interact with sustainable systems in renewable energy, waste water gardens, water catchment, food production;

·       Research alongside scientists at the Cape Eleuthera Institute to study sharks;

·       Collect data for a study funded by the Save Our Seas Foundation; and

·       Get experience out in the field and analyzing data in the lab.

Students are invited to join the shark research team to learn about the biology and ecology of Bahamian sharks. This course will be split equally between classes on shark conservation, biology and ecology, and time in the field gathering data for ongoing shark program projects. This course is physically demanding and involves time spent on boats, in all weather conditions, but will allow you to get up close and personal with some of the seas most incredible animals.

Here is a flyer for the Shark Week program and  

here is the application form.

The Flats Research and Discovery program invites students 16 and older to join the Flats Ecology research team to learn about the biology and ecology of bonefish. The course will include seine netting in creeks, tagging bonefish as a part of a nation-wide tagging program, transporting fish to the wet lab for future experiments, dissections, lectures, attending workshops on casting and fly tying, and preparing a research presentation. This course is physically demanding and involves time spent on boats and wading through creeks in all weather conditions.

Here is a flyer for the Flats Research and Discovery program 

and here is the application form.

      

Rising 10^th-12^th graders can participate in the Island School’s Summer Term, a five-week intensive program focused on leadership, ecology, research, and sustainable development. The Island School Summer Term is modeled after their semester program and invites students to think about our impact on the environment: where does our food come from, how do we get fresh water, how do we protect fragile ecosystems, how can we harness natural sources of energy, and how much does all of this cost? 

Issues of equality, economics, culture, and policy as related to The Bahamas will be explored. Every participant will leave with a greater understanding of and admiration for the world around them, and the knowledge to make their home community more sustainable.

Here is a flyer for the Summer Term program and a program application can be found here.

The Value Of Ones Education - Ty'Ronn Spriggs, LearnServe Zambia

Dear Reader,

Today we visited David Kaunda National Technology School. It is a boarding school here in Lusaka, Zambia. I found this school really interesting because I attend a boarding school myself. I was partnered up with a student by the name of Bertha Chishumba. She is in grade 12 and she is finishing school in 3 months. She has been at David Kaunda since she was in the 10th grade. After David Kaunda, she wants to go to the University of Zambia and become an investment banker. She also wants to join the fashion industry. Bertha is a very smart individual and I was honored to be paired with her.

What I found very interesting is that she takes 8 classes a day and each class is 40 minutes long. Her subjects include Math, English, Spanish, Technology, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, and History. At my school (The SEED Public Charter School), we only have 4 classes a day, but we take 7 subjects a year. Also, the David Kaunda School allows their students to stay on campus on the weekends with parental consent. I find that very interesting since some of the students live very far from the school, just like Bertha, and they have the option of staying in a safe environment other than walking home.

Another thing I noticed that completely blew my mind was that unlike SEED, they do not have Life Skills Counselors (LSCs) or Resident Assistant’s (RAs) to watch over the students while they are in the dorms. Instead, they have 1 student for each dorm who they call the “Head Boy/Girl” and this student has an office! When I went to see the dorms, the office was full of posters related to all of the different subjects. I was so amazed that these teenagers who are just like me have so much self -control and respect for each other.

The students at David Kaunda have a different perspective on education and success. Education to them was more than just coming to school everyday. They are actually interested in learning something, even if a teacher is not present. While walking through the campus, I stopped past a class with no teacher. The students were in their seats, quiet, working, with nothing but instructions on the chalkboard and a diagram. They went straight to work without a teacher being present for the entire class period. I know that in the past if my teacher were not present and there was no substitute teacher, no work was taking place in that classroom.

Today I learned that a teacher not being present is not an excuse for me to not do my work. I also realized that these students are motivated, they push themselves to develop successful study habits, and they are striving to be the best in all of Zambia.

As I said before, the students at David Kaunda are very intelligent. For example, Bertha has read every book in the Twilight series – a series with a very complex plot – and she is waiting for the new book to be released. I was very impressed on how self-motivated the students were. I just can not believe that this journey must end so soon. In two more days I will be saying goodbye Zambia and hello to my Mommy. I am really going to miss this place and all of the people in this group, both students and teachers. I will also miss all of the people I have met and all the youth I have interacted with and helped. It was so much fun while it lasted, and I will return in a couple of years.

SEED Students Visit NIAMS, NIH Campus

Sharon Nouzari Louis (far left), outreach program coordinator of the NIAMS Career Development and Outreach Branch, and Dr. Mario Cerritelli (far right), chief of the branch, pose with students and two staff members from the SEED Public Charter School of Washington, D.C.

Students from the SEED Public Charter School of Washington, D.C., recently visited NIH as part of a newly formed partnership with the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

The SEED (Schools for Educational Evolution and Development) Foundation opened its first school in Washington in 1998. The school is a tuition-free, lottery selection-based boarding school that aims to provide an academically rigorous college preparatory curriculum to middle and high school students from underprivileged inner-city areas. When President Obama recently visited the SEED School of Washington, D.C., he praised the program as a “true success story” with 97 percent of graduates being admitted to college. In the past year, the school was also featured in a segment on CBS’s 60 Minutes television show as well as on CNN.

As part of the new partnership, 15 students from the school, two of whom were D.C. Science Fair winners, visited with NIAMS IRP staff for a special daylong event featuring presentations and tours. SEED staff members Keven Cotton, External Opportunities Coordinator, and Lesli Brannon, Student Life Coordinator, accompanied the youngsters.

During the visit, Dr. Mario Cerritelli, chief of NIAMS’s Career Development and Outreach Branch, gave a presentation on career opportunities at NIH and urged the students to obtain a solid and broad education, in addition to focusing on science and math. He informed the students of the importance of bringing diverse perspectives to biomedical research, which promotes greater innovation in solving the complex health problems facing our nation today.

The students also learned about animal care and the use of animals in research from Dr. Crystal Brobst-Wormell, a clinical veterinarian. This was followed by tours of the Clinical Center led by Cerritelli and of a laboratory in the NIAMS Genetics and Genomics Branch by Geryl Wood, a research assistant. Students were also treated to lunch in the CC cafeteria, providing an opportunity to network with staff from the Career Development and Outreach Branch.

The visit showed the students the variety of research taking place at NIH and, organizers hope, inspired them to consider careers in science.