Monthly Archives: August 2009

08.07.09
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Obama Nominates CNCS Board Chair to Serve as Ambassador to Spain and Andorra

Solomont speaking at the Service Nation luncheon in June, <br>photo by Be the Change Inc

Solomont at Service Nation luncheon in June, photo by Be the Change Inc

The Corporation —which has been lacking a permanent CEO since November—may soon lose its board chair as well.

Alan Solomont, Chair of the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, was nominated today to serve as the United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra.

According to a statement today from Acting CEO of the Corporation Nicola Goren:
Alan has provided extraordinary leadership to the Corporation and the larger service movement since his original appointment to the Board by President Clinton in 2000 and his reappointment by President Bush in 2007.  His guidance as Board Chair has been especially helpful during the transition and in our series of early successes in the Obama Administration including the passage of the Recovery Act and Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, the formulation of the FY 2010 budget, the record turnout on the King Day of Service, the launch of United We Serve, and other milestones.
According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, if Solomont leaves the Corporation’s board, the board would have seven vacancies on its 15-member board.
08.05.09
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New STEM-Focused Service Learning Funds Available for Middle Schools

From Engaged for Success: Service Learning as a Tool for High School Drop Out Prevention (PDF)

From Engaged for Success: Service Learning as a Tool for High School Drop Out Prevention (PDF)

Youth Service America is looking to fund middle-school based service learning projects incorporating science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curricula.

Middle school teachers, administrators, service learning coordinators and after-school staff in select states can apply for $5000 in funding to engage kids in grades six through eight in a semester-long service-learning project geared towards environmental issues.

The grants, called STEMester of Service Grants, aim to address community problems in states with the highest school dropout rates while encouraging kids to explore careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

According to the website, environmental concerns can include green space availability, health effects, climate change, and Continue reading →

08.04.09
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New Podcast: An Interview with Teach For America Alumna Aaliyah El-Amin

The newest national service podcast show from Idealist.org features Teach For America.

Aaliyah El-Amin

Aaliyah El-Amin

Today’s guest on The New Service podcast is Aaliyah El-Amin, an alumna of Teach For America’s 2000 Atlanta corps. Teach For America is the national corps of recent college graduates who commit to teach for at least two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity.

In the 2008-09 school year, 6,200 corps members taught in over 1,600 schools in 29 regions across the country while more than 14,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity.

In 2000, at age twenty, Aaliyah El-Amin graduated from Davidson College and joined Teach For America to teach 4th and 5th grade in Atlanta, Georgia. It was through her corps experience, that Aaliyah found her calling. During her time in the classroom, Aaliyah received her Masters degree in Elementary Education from the University of Georgia.

By the time she was twenty-three, she’d received her principal certification and had become an instructional facilitator at Continue reading →

08.04.09
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Teach For America Podcast Transcript

Aaliyah El-Amin

Aaliyah El-Amin

Below is the transcript of our August podcast, “An Interview with Teach For America Alumna Aaliyah El-Amin.” Huge thanks to podcast intern Sara Lozito, an AmeriCorps team leader, for work in creating the transcript. Listen to the show here.

Amy: Welcome to the Idealist podcast. I’m Amy Potthast and this is the The New Service Podcast from Idealist.org – moving people from good intentions to action.

This month I chatted with Aaliyah El-Amin, a Teach For America alumna.

In 2000, at age twenty, Aaliyah graduated from Davidson College and joined Teach For America to teach 4th and 5th grade in Atlanta, Georgia. After leaving the corps and working as an instructional facilitator at her placement school, Aaliyah became the executive director of Teach For America Charlotte. She’s currently a doctoral student at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in in Education Policy, Leadership and Instructional Practice.

Hi Aaliyah, welcome to the show. Continue reading →