This chapter presents the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) program as a case study, examining their gradual process of shifting all programs to integrate leadership development and service. As an organization with over 4,000 volunteers and a nationwide scope, the change process was a challenge but resulted in benefits that fit the…

The Promise Fellow Program is an intervention designed to prevent dropout amongst students in grades 6-12 in Minnesota that show early warning signs of school disengagement. The program is led by interventionists known as Promise Fellows and provides three research-based supports that align with the National Dropout Prevention Center's "Basic…

This work discusses the effort to begin helping university students fulfill the university mission and core curriculum objectives through the Foundations of Sports Outreach course and the Sports Outreach Initiative at Gonzaga University. Guided by Catholic Social Teaching principles, the primary goal of the course was to provide a social…

Digital media play an increasingly dominant role in reinforcing and challenging power inequality in social and institutional relationships. This paper describes how a service-learning component engaged students in community-based interactions that not only deepened their understanding of course content but also increased their commitment to…

Using an interdisciplinary approach to water resource education, 4-H Youth Development and Environmental Extension agents enlisted 4-H teens to connect local watershed education with social action. Teens participated in a dynamic service learning project that included learning about nonpoint source pollution; constructing, decorating, and teaching…

This paper proposes the development of an enhanced sense of social responsibility in the use of talents and the creation of programmes and services that focus on the promotion of these traits among a wider student population. Selection of students for these offerings should not mirror the rigid identification of academically or intellectually…

Advance is a flexible, school-based program that provides young people with the opportunity to volunteer or implement a project of benefit to their communities. An evaluation of this partnership between a state government office for youth, government secondary schools and community organisations found that a universal program such as Advance could…

Nine of the 12 principles for effective leadership programs suggested by R. Woyach and K. Cox (1997) were used in the creation of a teen leadership program in Fort Worth, Texas. With support from several sources, the Texas Agricultural Extension Service in Tarrant County created 4-H Youth for Community Action (4-HYCA), an after-school leadership…

China is a key player on the global stage, and nearly 300 million Chinese youth stand to be affected by rapid social and ecological transformations. Programs that promote developmental assets in Chinese youth could increase their resilience in the face of contemporary stressors and enhance their capacity to contribute to China's development. In…

Teenagers enjoy being involved in community service; all we have to do is ask and provide the opportunity. The 101st Congress passed the National and Community Service Act of 1990, which will fund programs enabling students from kindergarten through college to serve their communities. A sidebar lists national resources for service-learning in…

This article reviews the literature on community service and activism, particularly in youth, using the theoretical approach provided by an identity projects framework. This framework allows for an examination of the contextual and experiential factors that contribute to the emergence and maintenance of an identity project of service or activism.…

The impact of the Conservation and Youth Services Corps on communities and program participants was evaluated by studying eight corps programs, which were located in the following areas: Washington State; New York City; Greater Miami, Florida; Santa Clara, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Camden County, New Jersey; Baltimore, Maryland; and…

Brisk political winds are now converging behind national proposals for youth service. As several examples show, combining classroom work with service/social action projects can help produce dramatic improvements in student attitudes, motivation, and achievement. Learning through service succeeds because youth become active, needed members of their…

The non-school hours, often framed as periods of risk, idleness or remediation, in fact constitute a powerful opportunity for civic renewal, engagement and change. This commentary describes how out-of-school time programs make ideal contexts for nurturing civic engagement, exploring the issue from the practice, research and policy perspectives.…

In November 1990, President Bush signed into law the National and Community Service Act. This article briefly reviews three arguments for the role of service in an educational program (to stimulate learning and social development, to reform society and preserve democracy, and to halt separation of youth from the wider society). (36 references)…