Happy New Year!
In many communities only 22% of young people feel that their community values them 
and 26% percent feel that they have valuable roles to play in their communities. This month we look at strategies that some asset builders have employed to show youth that they are valued and they can make important contributions to their communities.
Aquila Service Club
Students in first, second, and third grade at Aquila Primary Center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, 
have the opportunity to be a part of their school’s Service Club, engaging in short- and long-term service-learning projects every other Tuesday after school. The students help plan the projects, make decisions, and are responsible for the work. They feel the success of their projects and pride in helping someone else and they discover how caring about other people can make lives better. According to Jennifer Beeman, a teacher at Aquila and the leader of the Service Club, more than 27 Developmental Assets are built through student participation in the club.
GetNvolved
Thanks to GetNvolved, organizing available service and volunteer opportunities and hours is much easier and more fulfilling for students and staff in three Wisconsin high schools this year. GetNvolved is an online program that connects schools, students, and volunteer agencies to serve all of them better.
Paul Vidas, creator of GetNvolved and president of Nvolved Inc., worked with youth and in nonprofit organizations for several years. When he saw the large percentage of youth who lacked Developmental Assets 7 and 8, “Community Values Youth” and “Youth as Resources,” he decided to move to the for-profit world. He created GetNvolved to help youth find opportunities to become involved in their communities and to show others in the community the great things that young people are doing
Bridging Town and Gown through Service-Learning Partnerships
At Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, Dr. Marie Watkins, Associate Professor and the director of the Center for Service Learning (CSL), 
teaches a service-learning based course called Community Youth Development. The course is a requirement for the 18 credit academic interdisciplinary Minor in Community Youth Development. Officers from Youth Voice One Vision (YVOV) and Youth As Resources (YAR) have a co-lecturing role in the course, connecting their lived experiences to the Developmental Assets to and the qualities of an effective youth worker.
Inspired to Serve
Inspired to Serve: Youth-Led Interfaith Action is a three-year pilot project to enhance the capacity of America’s 350,000 churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, and other faith-based organizations to engage young people in effective service-learning that increases interfaith cooperation, contributes to healthy development, and enriches community life.
Additional tools and resources
Service-Learning Connections to the Developmental Assets
Assessing Your Service-Learning Program in Light of the Principles of Effective Practice
Handouts from: An Asset Builder’s Guide to Service-Learning
