Through Nickelodeon's Big Help program, and with assistance from the Chicago Region PTA, students at six Chicago schools learned about the satisfaction of making a difference in their communities. Over the course of one week, students participated in various community service projects and were rewarded for their hard work with a visit from the…

Team HOPE (Help Offering Parents Empowerment) supports parents of missing children by linking victims with trained parent volunteers who have been through the experience of having a missing child. Describes: Team HOPE's compassionate response training; referrals to Team HOPE; and additional avenues to help via Team HOPE's website. Explains how…

Describes a hunger project conducted in one California high school that was designed to encourage apathetic students to become activists. The Hunger at Home project taught students about how hunger was a part of their community, then had the students brainstorm, formalize, and implement a variety of action plans. Details several of the students'…

A survey of 68 schools shows that half of all volunteers have college degrees; most support classroom and tutoring activities. Volunteers are beneficial, despite costs associated with program administration, recruitment, interviewing, screening, orientation, training, performance assessment, motivation, recognition, record keeping, reporting,…

A survey of 49 volunteer leadership development programs (39% response) and 704 professional association members (46% response) identified the top volunteer trends: virtual volunteering, corporate/workplace volunteers, episodic volunteering, and changing demographics of volunteers. (JOW)

The Experience Corps for Independent Living is a volunteer service program designed to expand the independent living services available to frail elders and their families. Five first-year projects were able to serve a critical mass and promote community linkages. Three had active leadership development programs. (JOW)

Investigated the impact of a service learning experience on preservice teachers who received training in tutoring and tutored elementary students twice weekly over a semester. Data from participant essays and surveys indicated that respondents were significantly transformed by this experience, developing new perspectives in areas such as identity…

Developing and using volunteers in the admission process is an age-old topic for those in the admission field. A good volunteer program allows an institution to provide more audience-based marketing messages rather than institutional-based marketing messages. Such programs can mean a more engaged, supportive, and enthusiastic set of key…

Contains articles written by two former Frontiers of Justice participants about their experiences and reflections on the legacy message of the Church in El Salvador. Also includes a poem written by the Archbishop Oscar Romero, and an extensive bibliography of resources in English on the Church in El Salvador. (VWC)

Describes an alternative approach to a communication lab or speaking center known as the Speech Center, which serves the entire university community. Notes that the use of the center is based entirely on voluntary participation by faculty and staff. Reviews methods and operating procedures for this alternative program. (SG)

Voluntary work with local communities has been advocated as beneficial for geography students, higher education institutions and the public. In England, the Higher Education Active Community Fund (HEACF) has recently been established by the Government to encourage staff and students in higher education to undertake voluntary work in local…

In response to aging patient demographics and a call for increased formal geriatric training in medical schools, a community volunteer geriatric mentor program, Bridging Generations, was developed to shape attitudes of medical students caring for the elderly. The geriatric mentor experience provided students with unique insight into the challenges…

At the end of the day, most of those in higher education feel gratified for having accomplished meaningful work but somewhat overwhelmed with the pile of work yet to be tackled. Still, they see the need to do more beyond that. Indeed, it is becoming clear that there is a growing need for more contact between educators and students and a need to…

Handling upset parents, unexpected kid behavior, and touchy school politics are some of the toughest parts of a teacher's job. As such, it never hurts to have an emergency plan or two tucked away and a few tried-and-true strategies one can count on. In this article, the author presents several sticky situations and corresponding solutions for…

Volunteers' reasons for interest in and skills they could employ as resident advocates in nursing facilities under the auspices of an ombudsman program were obtained from applications of 778 individuals. A unique feature of the research was that interests and skills were assessed prior to volunteer participation. In contrast to motivations for…