Author Archives: Amy Potthast

11.12.08
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Kenneth Cole launches AWEARNESS book

Designer and activist Kenneth Cole launches a book today that tells stories of how to and where to make a difference.

awearness_bookAs part of the AWEARNESS Initiative, Kenneth Cole today launched the book AWEARNESS: Inspiring Stories about How to Make a Difference.

Contributors include a slew of celebrities and community leaders like Robert Redford, Rachael Ray, and Michael Bloomberg.

Kenneth Cole sponsored the Service Nation Summit in September. Cole will make a joint appearance in Boston Nov. 20 with Service Nation founder & City Year co-founder, Alan Khezei.

Also check out Cole’s AWEARNESS blog.

11.12.08
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CNCS: Student Service on the Rise, but Less Connected to Learning

New report shows fewer schools using effective education strategy

Wednesday The Corporation for National and Community Service released a new report showing that community service in U.S. schools has reached an all-time high. 68 percent of all K-12 schools offer or recognize some kind of service opportunities for their students but that service-learning is down.

The report, Community Service and Service-Learning in America’s Schools 2008 (PDF), found that while community service has increased in K-12 schools, the percentage of schools with service-learning declined from 32 percent in 1999 to 24 percent in 2008.

The study is the result of a survey of a national sample of more than 2,000 K-12 public school principals across the United States.  The results were released at the Academy for Education Development.

To view the full report and other information, visit www.NationalService.gov/research.

“This report comes at a critical time when our educational needs are great, our resources scarce, and our educators are searching for answers,” said David Eisner, the out-going CEO of the Corporation.  “The number of students failing to graduate is rising to epidemic proportions.  Yet we see that many schools are missing a key opportunity to use this proven strategy to help their students become more motivated and engaged both in and out of the classroom.”

The reason service in school matters at all is that research shows that introducing young people to service sets them on a path to lifelong civic engagement.  Tuft’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) reports that volunteering empowers youth with the knowledge that they can make a difference in their communities.  Last year the Corporation published another report, Leveling the Path to Participation, that also found that youth from disadvantaged circumstances who volunteer feel more influential in their communities than do their peers who don’t volunteer.

One guess as to the decline in service-learning is that school leaders may falsely believe that service-learning only benefits a student’s civic achievement. In truth, research has shown that service-learning increases a child’s capacity to achieve academically as well—by deepening the learning experience and diminishing negative behaviors.

Other key findings of the study include:

  • The majority of school districts do not provide service-learning policies, according to school principals.  Only 19 percent of school principals report that their districts have a policy that promotes service-learning, and 28 percent of principals do not know whether their district has such a policy.
  • Elementary schools are the least likely to offer service-learning activities.  20 percent of elementary schools have service-learning programs, compared to a quarter of middle schools and over a third (35%) of high schools.  Furthermore, over half (51%) of elementary school principals believe their students are too young to engage in service-learning.
  • The class gap in service learning is decreasing but still exists.  Schools in low-income areas are significantly less likely to have service-learning activities than other schools.  In 1999, schools in low-income areas were 57 percent less likely to have service-learning activities; in 2008 they were only 35 percent less likely to offer service-learning.  Still, only 20 percent of schools in low-income areas currently offer service-learning activities compared to 27 percent of schools that are not in low-income areas.
11.12.08
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On the Hill, RPCVs in, RPCVs out

The Peace Corps Polyglot—the blog of the National Peace Corps Association, the independent group of images-2Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCV)—announced last week that RPCV Congressman Chris Shays (R-CT) was defeated Nov. 4.  Shays served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Fiji (1968-70).

The blog post also follows the fate of other RPCVs up for election this fall.

Shays has been an active proponent of national service in the House and participated in the Service Nation Summit September 12th in New York. He co-founded the bi-partisan Congressional National Service Caucus in 2004.

On the topic of national service, from his Congressional web site:

I believe national service is one of the wisest and least costly investments our government can make. For example, AmeriCorps volunteers provided:

• 3.8 million CNCS program participants;
• 216 million hours of service;
• Recruiting and/or managing 1.8 million volunteers.
According to the Corporation for National and Community Service, 72 percent of AmeriCorps members continue to volunteer in their communities after their term of service ends and 87 percent of former AmeriCorps members accept public service employment.

National service benefits both the recipient and the giver. Volunteers not only address an immediate need, they lead and teach through example, and through that example they learn the value of serving and helping others.

I still remember how I felt as a 14 year-old watching the 1960 Presidential election between Vice President Richard Nixon and Senator John Kennedy. I felt energized listening to Senator Kennedy when he spoke of the Peace Corps and making the world a better and safer place. I wanted to be part of his vision. Years later, that dream was fulfilled when my wife Betsi and I served two years in the Peace Corps.

The same powerful emotion, the same sense of energy, eagerness and anticipation we felt in the sixties, is alive today.

Read the independent Peace Corps Online story about Shay’s loss.

11.11.08
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Veterans Day

To my grandfather, retired Col. Herman F. Allen, ex-POW, and to all Vets — thank you!

Herman Allen, 92 this year, has been a servant leader all his life. When I joined Peace Corps in 1998, he told images-1me how proud he was of me for serving my country. That meant so much to me, coming from a colonel, a former prisoner of war, and my granddad. The title of this blog comes from his comment, from the notion that enlisting in “the Service” can include a broader scope of service opportunities than just military.

But on Veterans Day, it’s all about military service, and the brave people who have put their lives on the line to keep us safe and free.

Read more about Veterans Day.

11.11.08
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Tips for Service Corps Parents

Parents tend to vary in their feelings when their child takes part in a term of service—from excited and supportive to suspicious and concerned. Wherever you fit on the spectrum, here are some words of wisdom to keep in mind during and after your child’s term.

You may feel that by volunteering full-time for a year, your child is floundering. The truth is, if you have raised a thoughtful child who is passionate about making the world a better place, they are going to need some time to figure out how and where to do that. Unlike so many career paths, the path to social change is relatively undefined.

For starters, a term of service experience offers many benefits to the community and to your child—for more on this, read Why Service? If your kid is thinking of signing up for a second term, read Why Service? a second time.

What your child needs from you:

Protect them from the Peer Pressure You May Feel

  • When your peers brag about the material achievements of their kids, don’t panic. Surely you can find other things to brag about—namely, what your child has single-handedly achieved to end poverty, educate youth, build community bridges, etc. Hopefully your child is keeping track, so you can ask them for the details. If you really want to show your kid you support them, brag about them in their presence. Let them blush and protest, but let them hear you.
  • Learn to explain their program in a sentence or two. It may help to say, “It’s similar to Peace Corps but…” because most people have heard of it, have some general understanding that Peace Corps is a legitimate volunteer organization, and that the people who participate are not to be mocked.


After the term ends, be patient and helpful about their career transition

  • First, recognize that when your kid’s term ends, they may be processing what they experienced and what they saw—they may need time to decompress emotionally. You can play an important role by listening to them and reflecting back what they say, non-judgmentally—no use getting in an argument about public policy at this point. They just want to be heard.
  • The first thing you may want to know is when they will get a “real” job. When speaking of their career transition, it’s so important to stay positive and helpful, and keep your own anxiety out of that discussion.
  • That all said, set clear boundaries if you have limits around what kind of financial support you are willing to offer them moving forward. If you are firm, you will be more patient with the choices they make because you know (and they know) that they will not be living off your income longer than you’d like.
  • If your child’s moving back in with you, establish clear rent payment expectations and also the time-frame for when they need to be out on their own again.

The best thing you can do, for yourself, is get educated about your kid’s program and about service in general. Talk to parents of other former corps members and find out how the term affected their lives and careers. Find out what financial and educational benefits your child’s program offers. If your kid has a work plan or position description, it may help to look at it, to realize the responsibilities they have been tackling.

Just like when they learned to tie a shoe or ride a bike, your child must now practice new life and career-transition skills. And just like then, they need you to be there to support them, cheer them on, and get so excited for them when they succeed.

Since my mom is reading this, I will add, thanks, Mom, for always being my cheerleader. I think I mostly turned out all right.