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.
Students involved with community service or service learning through can sign on to GetNvolved and browse through available service opportunities gathered from local agencies in need of volunteers. Students log their hours and comment on their experiences, and the nonprofits they serve with can comment back –which demonstrates to students that they are valued and have important roles in their communities.
Local agencies are able to post volunteer opportunities and have access to the program for free, but for a small fee they can access volunteer records, which include the number of volunteers and hours volunteered, as well as student comments and reflections about their experiences. They also get access to reports, student quotes, and narrative information.
Once students have been entered into the database, they can assign themselves to groups such as “National Honor Society” or “Student Government” and add service hours to each group as they complete them. Making each student accountable for entering his or her own info takes the burden off staff and puts the students in charge of their own records. The program does not allow duplication of hours, or counting the same completed hours for two different groups, and the student records are only visible to the teachers or advisors of the groups they are assigned to and to the nonprofits where they serve, not to other students or staff.
Teachers and staff working with service or service-learning components can then manage each group and send messages to students. Vidas is looking to implement a service-learning rubric on the site, allowing students to respond to prompts and teachers to evaluate the responses. He thinks the new rubric will make it easier for teachers to engage their students in service-learning because many of them do not have enough time or resources to take on entire projects on their own.
Menasha High School in Menasha, Wisconsin, used to have a full-time staff person to manage the community service opportunities and records. The school has a long history of service learning, and all students are required to complete a number of service hours each year. This year, they made the switch to use GetNvolved and are extremely pleased with the results.
Vidas finds his work is very uplifting. Every day he can read dialogue between youth and nonprofits about their experiences. He sees recognizing the good these young people are doing in the community as part of his role. One student won a youth award for volunteer service because adults she worked with became aware of the extent of her service through GetNvolved, and were then able to nominate her.
For groups up to one hundred (such as National Honor Society, Key Club, Student Government, and Service-Learning Class), the annual fee is $175. For groups of two-thousand or more, the annual fee is $995. GetNvolved has completed its pilot phases and is now available for distribution.
For more information contact Paul Vidas at paul.vidas@nvolved.com or (920) 257-9486 or visit www.nvolved.com.
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