The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, created in partnership with NASSP in 1995, recognizes young people who initiate outstanding volunteer projects. In two years, the program has honored 10,000 young heroes. In the fall, schools across the nation promote the opportunity and encourage nominations of outstanding youngsters. The purpose is to…

Describes activities of City Year, an AmeriCorps national service program that sponsors youth service activities in Boston, San Antonio, and other cities. (SK)

Relate, a British relationship counseling service, relies on volunteer counselors. They receive extensive initial training and continuous assessment, passing through stages from incompetence to the point at which competence becomes unconscious. (SK)

Student volunteer work is now being designed to enrich their academic coursework. Volunteer administrators are being challenged to infuse volunteer student placements with opportunities for service learning. (SK)

Discussion groups of 100 teachers, 55 parents, 12 principals, and 40 students; survey responses from 50 parents, and interviews with 15 community members revealed positive attitudes about volunteer involvement in a school district, frustrations about limited time for volunteer coordination, and lack of support structure. Common school assumptions…

Explains formative and summative evaluation and the stages of instructional design. Applies Kirkpatrick's model of training evaluation (evaluating reactions, learning, behavior, and results) to volunteer training. (SK)

Service learning can improve communities while preparing students for a lifetime of responsible citizenship. It helps students learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized services that occur in and meet the needs of communities. Volunteering at a young age can lay the foundation for a lifelong commitment to community…

Volunteerism in third-sector charitable/volunteer organizations takes different forms and involves different practices depending on contexts. Four operating frameworks--charity, activist, welfare state, and market--facilitate, co-opt, or impede volunteer practices in different settings. (Contains 18 references.) (JOW)

Analysis of Australian Community Survey data (n=6,242) identified three categories of volunteer involvement: assisting those who need help, serving the wider community, and being involved in volunteer groups. Volunteers in each category had different characteristics. Key influences were having resources to contribute, existence of recruitment…

Describes the Housebound Learners Project, a London-area program using volunteer tutors to bring adult education to homebound persons. Discusses course and topic selection and outreach in minority communities. (SK)

Describes Cheney's successful use of volunteers in parks and recreation programs. They raised funds, worked for park maintenance and improvement, and organized sports programs and special events. Reports survey results from Washington communities on voluntary efforts of fraternal and social organizations, businesses, and senior and youth groups.…

Discusses various youth service proposals before Congress, including the Nunn-Curdy bill and those by Edward M. Kennedy and Claiborne Pell. AASA's Committee on Federal Policy and Legislation will oppose any national youth service program that holds students hostage by mandating civilian or military service for college student aid applicants. (MLH)

Describes the Host Homes and Youth Center run by the Community Advocacy Council in Carrollton, Texas. The homes serve as places where troubled youth can go when there is trouble in their homes. The center provides counseling to both young people and their families. Families volunteer to serve as hosts. (SKC)

Recruited families of residents of dementia unit of nursing home to lead programs and activities. Found family volunteers complemented staff efforts to provide a varied and enriched environment for the residents and volunteers felt the experience was an extension of their continuing involvement. (Author/ABL)

Schools enjoying strong parental support have parental-involvement programs in place and actively seek to involve parents. Such schools usually have a staff member, frequently a parent, whose task is to establish, manage, and maintain successful engagements among individuals, groups of parents, and the school. Darien, Connecticut's innovative high…