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• National Service and ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ Kick Off Joint Effort to Help Rebuild Hurricane-Ravaged Mississippi Town
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WASHINGTON – The Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America programs, last week kicked off its yearlong collaboration with the ABC television program "Good Morning America" and the Salvation Army to help rebuild the town of Pass Christian, Miss., by removing 355 tons of debris from a residential street located less than a hundred yards from where Hurricane Katrina came on shore in late August.

The storm – which hit the historic Gulf Coast town, located about 15 miles west of Biloxi, with winds of up to 145 miles per hour and a sea surge of nearly 30 feet – destroyed or left unusable nearly 75 percent of residents’ homes and 100 percent of the town’s businesses. In addition, much of the town’s infrastructure – including utilities, fire and police stations, city vehicles, and public works buildings – were destroyed.

To mark the start of the collaborative effort, more than 70 AmeriCorps members – including 30 from AmeriCorps St. Louis, 24 from the Washington State Conservation Corps, and 22 from Denver campus of AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) – participated in an intensive daylong cleanup of Seal Avenue. With support of dump trucks and heavy equipment provided by the Mississippi Department of Transportation, the AmeriCorps members removed 55 truckloads of brush and debris – approximately 355 tons’ worth – in less than a day. In addition, a team of AmeriCorps members helped local residents empty their homes of furniture, appliances, clothing, and personal effects that had been destroyed by mud, muck, and water.

“In times of crisis, citizens and volunteers make up the backbone of support for people and communities in need,” said David Eisner, CEO of the Corporation. “It will take many months, if not years, to recover from such a devastating disaster. We applaud 'Good Morning America' for committing to helping rebuild Pass Christian, and we look forward to working with them and with our other partners to help this town, indeed the entire Gulf region, get back on its feet as quickly as possible."

Pass Christian is “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts’ hometown, which prompted the show to focus its efforts there. The Corporation was asked to be a partner because of its expertise in organizing and managing volunteers, its experience with disaster relief, and its proven ability to help people rebuild their homes and lives. Also participating in the rebuilding effort is the Salvation Army, which will help coordinate donations of money, goods, and services.

“These guys are relentless,” said Roberts of the AmeriCorps members during a live broadcast from Pass Christian on September 28. “I can’t tell you the psychological boost that these people have given to my hometown – and they’re going to stay here and continue to do the work here that is so desperately needed.”

For at the next year, participants from all of the Corporation’s programs – AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America – will be involved in the long-term recovery effort in the town, which before the storm had been home to 6,600 people. Over the course of the next several months, national service participants and other community volunteers will help clean out and disinfect residents’ homes, tarp roofs, provide information to townspeople on available resources, tutor and mentor students in afterschool programs, and build and repair housing, among many other activities.

The next immediate project will be helping the Army Corps of Enginees and the Navy Seabees set up office and class space at DeLisle Elementary School, the only remaining public school in Pass Christian. The school, which flooded but did not sustain significant damage, will become the campus for all local schoolchildren in grades K-12. In addition, the team of AmeriCorps members in Pass Christian will be helping to salvage documents, school supplies, and other materials from the former high school, which was flooded and rendered unusuable by the storm.

Throughout the year, the Corporation will document the rebuilding effort on the website. Photographs from the first project, as well as additional information on the partnership, can be found there as well.

The Corporation for National and Community Service provides opportunities for Americans of all ages and backgrounds to serve their communities and country through three programs: Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. Together with the USA Freedom Corps, the Corporation is working to build a culture of citizenship, service, and responsibility in America. For more information, visit the website.

By MARK WILSON
Courier & Press Staff Writer
464-7417
September 29, 2005

Most classrooms don't include anything like the shoulder-high grass and ankle-deep water in which eight Stanley Hall Enrichment Center students found themselves working Thursday.

Students at the Evansville school have been helping plan, develop and create a seasonal wetlands area on former farmland on Lynn Road now owned by Angel Mounds State Historic Site.

The students, joined by two University of Southern Indiana students and advisers from various agencies - the Vanderburgh County Soil and Water Conservation District, federal Natural Resource Conservation Service and Indiana Department of Natural Resources - waded out with shovels to plant 20 bald cypress trees on the 3½-acre Black Willow Wetland Area.

"I like more hands-on stuff," said Melissa Hanney, 18, after digging a muddy hole for one of the trees. That is exactly why the wetlands project is such a perfect fit for the school, said Principal Elizabeth McGovern.

Stanley Hall Enrichment Center provides students who have difficulty in traditional school settings an opportunity to learn at their own pace in less traditional ways, she said. One of those ways is through service learning projects blending community service with their curriculum. When they learned of the state's desire to return the low-lying area to a wetlands, students at the school began studying the area's ecology, researching the native plants and wildlife that once thrived there and planning how to restore them.

"They had done a tremendous amount of research before we even got involved, said Darrell Rice, district conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Andrew Baker, 18, has worked on the project since it began, and said he hopes to stay involved with it even after finishing his education at the school.

"I really like the environment," he said, "and it has really built character for me too. I had to plant two acres of native grasses by hand."

Many of those restored native plants, crowded out by years of farming and encroachment of nonnative plant species, are thriving,

May 25, 2005
By Diane Kubiak / Post-Tribune correspondent

VALPARAISO — Kudos from Valparaiso School Board members to students, staff and community closed Tuesday night’s board meeting as several successful initiatives were honored.

Student mentors and teachers from the CASS program, an anti-bullying program now in both middle schools here, told how the program is spreading to the elementary schools. It will become part of the health curriculum with grade-level objectives.

Begun as an outgrowth from the national Ophelia project, the program has involved the home and other agencies which deal with Valparaiso students, like the Boys & Girls Club, the Park Department and the YMCA, said CASS coordinator Denise Koebcke, teacher at Jefferson Middle School.

Recently CASS members welcomed a national speaker on school bullying in a day-long conference entitled “Beyond Violence” which was attended by teachers and administrators from other school systems.

“Everyone wanted to deal with this issue,” Koebcke said. She said it is important for a community to develop a consistent message to its youth about maintaining a positive school climate which welcomes all students.

Senior Chelsea Nix, 17, said that mentoring middle schoolers has helped her keep a check on her behavior and on that of her peers at VHS.

“We owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude,” School Board member Lorrie Woycik told the CASS team. “You have been so amazing.”

She and others thanked the Valparaiso City Council for recognizing the program by setting aside a day, by proclamation, as CASS day. She also thanked the council for their recognition of the heroism by staff members at VHS who put themselves in danger when a student attacked classmates earlier this year with a tree saw and a machete.

Junior John Cribbs said he has seen a change in climate at the middle school where he has been a mentor since the program started three years ago. “It’s getting there. It’s a slow process,” he said.

The board also watched a demonstration from members of the Civil Engineering and Architecture class of Gary Gray, instructor of industrial technology at VHS.

The students — all finalists in a contest recently sponsored by an Indianapolis chapter of the American Institute of Architects — used laser pointers to guide School Board members on their computer-generated concepts of an art incubator building.

Student Ryan Norris’s presentation won sixth place in the contest which drew 130 entries. The contest is designed to increase the number and quality of engineers, Gray said.

Board member Helen Gioia recognized supporters who gave scholarships to VHS. She estimates that one-third of the senior class has received scholarships.

“This community makes an effort to support our schools,” she said. “It’s an important pillar.”

Also recognized were the Science Olympiad teams, the music program, the science adoption committees and the Public Law 221 committees. The board accepted the school improvement plans for schools in compliance with that law.

The board also approved science and health text book selections recommended by the committees.

Mooresville High School's "In A Flash" program has been named one of the ten best teen safe driving projects in the nation as a part of the State Farm Project Ignition program. A group of MHS seniors led by English teacher Sharon Eickhoff worked on a four-part series of safe driving messages for students and the community during October and November. "In A Flash" is a service-learning project, where students work on a service activity while tying their efforts into classroom work.

"This is a great honor for our students and our school," said Curt Freeman, Superintendent for Mooresville Consolidated School Corporation. "The seniors have put in a tremendous amount of effort on this project and are well deserving of this award."

Mooresville was one of 25 high schools across the country to receive an initial $2,000 to create a safe driving project in the fall of 2004. As one of the top 10 entries, students from Mooresville will travel to the National Youth Leadership Council conference in Long Beach California March 17-19. At the conference, the students will present their project and compete for the top prize of $10,000 for their school to create additional teen safe driving programs.

The project included safe driving campaigns in four key areas: seat belt use, dangerous driving, impaired driving, and cell phone use. Several classes helped with the project, which was led by a core group of about 30 students. The group created messages on school television announcements, student and teacher activities during lunchtime, bulletin board and posters, and community activities for each of the themes.

Mooresville Consolidated School corporation is part of a network of service learning schools in Indiana and in the nation. The district has had a system-wide service learning program for five years where students at all grade levels can take part in classroom-based service projects. Service learning projects have tackled needs from helping the elderly to providing for needy families to cleaning the environment.

The need and importance of this project truly stand out, according to Mooresville High School Principal Chuck Muston. "Indiana high schools have seen a huge number of teens injured and
killed in automobile accidents and Mooresville is no exception," said Muston. Two Mooresville High School seniors were killed in separate car crashes during the 2003-2004 school year.

"The fact that these students created a program to combat the problem is remarkable. Teenagers are sometimes accused of not caring about real issues or remembering the past. These students not only remember but care enough to try to keep their peers safe."

Some of the larger events in the project included a Community Safe Driving Day, where the public was invited to see a variety of activities and displays such as a semi's "No Zone," information from police and fire departments, and driving remote controlled cars while wearing "drunk" goggles.

"Their effort really paid off," said advisor Sharon Eickhoff. "Our pre- and post-surveys of the activities showed that students really did pay attention and began practicing safer driving and riding habits. One student even told us 'Project Ignition made it cool to wear your seatbelt.'"

Every student and faculty member at MHS also received a "Remember Them" keychain from the group. The keychain features 10 different colored beads and a card to list 10 friends and family members who are important in your life. The keychain is a visible reminder when driving about the people who care about your safety.

The project ended with a school-wide convocation featuring former Pacers Stuart Gray and Darnell Hillman. The convocation's "Don't Punch the Numbers" anti-cell phone use campaign was also highlighted with a "boxing" match (using oversized inflatable gloves) between two MHS teachers.

Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer sent a message to the students from Washington DC. "I congratulate the students of Moorseville High School for their commitment and dedication to this worthy project," said Buyer in a prepared statement. "Their hard work and passion is not
only commendable but it will work to save lives."

The emphasis on positive messages was important to the students. "We didn't want to be preachy," said senior Jessica Riggio, "We just wanted to make sure they got the message."

Senior Matt O'Neil echoed that sentiment, adding, "This is an epidemic problem. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for people ages 16 to 20, and Indiana is above the national average in teen driver deaths. Too many high schools are like Mooresville and have had students die in car accidents. We felt like we needed to tackle this issue in a way that other students would listen to us."

The group's award includes a $5,000 travel stipend to the National Youth Leadership Council's annual service learning conference for a handful of students. Others in the group are already planning to hold fundraisers to help pay for additional students to travel and present. For more information about the group, contact Mooresville service learning coordinator Susan Haynes at 317-831-9200, ext. 15.

BY CARMEN McCOLLUM
219-662-5337

This story ran on nwitimes.com on Monday, January 23, 2006 12:17 AM CST

CROWN POINT | Not only will Crown Point High School students earn a diploma, they also will get a chance to serve their community.

A new policy at the high school, effective with this year's freshman class, requires students to perform 40 hours of community service. Those hours will equal one credit, raising the graduation requirement to 41 credits. Crown Point High School Principal Ryan Pitcock said parents have questioned how the requirement is to be completed.

Students can choose to participate in an organization, church, nonprofit organization, food pantry or homeless shelter to name a few, he said. Students also can complete the service in a week or over four years of high school. Sometimes a student can use a study hall to serve as a tutor or be a peer mentor.

"The purpose of the service learning component is to get into character development," Pitcock said.

Michele Sullivan, Indiana Department of Education service learning consultant, said she thinks it's an outstanding idea. She said the department has funded more than 45 schools and/or corporations who support service learning.

"It gives students a hands-on application to their course studies, and above and beyond that, it means those students are now connected to their community through service," she said.

"Students are (becoming) more civically engaged in their communities. The department of education not only wants to turn out educated students but also educated and engaged students," Sullivan said.

Parent volunteer Rosa Hubble works with parent Susan Buchholz to conduct the Bridge Builders meetings where parents get together and talk about various issues. Hubble said Pitcock did a lot of research before introducing it at the meeting last year.

"I don't have a problem with it," Hubble said, adding her children previously attended private schools and were required to do nine hours per quarter.It's an effort to get children into the community, and it speaks well of the school district", she said.