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. The YVOV and YAR officers also plan and participate in service-learning projects with the students in the class.
In 2004, YVOV and YAR first partnered with the Center for Service Learning, with the support of the Rochester Area Community Foundation, to enhance existing service-learning activities in out-of-school settings. The organizations continue to collaborate and combine resources to engage college students, organizations, youth, and the community in service learning. Each organization offers valuable perspectives and resources, and the Developmental Assets are infused in their activities, frameworks and goals.
YVOV and YAR officers have been able to share their experiences from the 2007 Search Institute Conference held in Rochester as the college students read of All Kids Are Our Kids by Peter Benson. To support their learning, the college students also read articles by Dr. Watkins about youth development and service learning, and then bring the theoretical concepts into dialogue with the community youth. The dialogue between the students and the YVOV and YAR representatives makes youth development service-learning come alive in an academic setting.
CSL, YVOV, and YAR partner to engage youth from Rochester and Monroe County with the college community through service learning. They also present workshops for community members interested in understanding youth development, service learning, and how to apply Developmental Assets to service-learning activities. Both YAR and YVOV are involved with the events and activities of the Community Asset Partner Network in Rochester.
CSL offers its partners technical support through connections, resources, guidance, and education. CSL connects groups with contacts and organizations that are related to their service learning interests, informs on the best practices of service learning, and helps groups integrate intentionality, reciprocity, and reflection into their projects.
YVOV was created by youth to connect the city with the county and has since adopted a mission to educate the community about importance of youth civic engagement. It gives youth the opportunity to be heard and recognized through youth/adult partnerships, civic planning, and service learning. It acts to increase involvement, communication, and resource-sharing between youth serving organizations
YAR is a youth philanthropy organization run out of the Rochester-Monroe County Youth Bureau that awards mini-grants to community groups for community service and service learning projects planned, led, and implemented by youth. It seeks to empower and engage youth as partners with adults in creating positive community change and development.
For more information on the Center for Service Learning at Nazareth College, contact Dr. Mary Watkins at mwatkin2@naz.edu or (585) 389-2748.
For more information on Youth Voice One Vision contact Kristina Heiligenthaler at heiligek@cityofrochester.gov or (585) 428-7371.
For more information on Youth As Resources contact Garth Freeman at gfreeman@monroecounty.gov or 585-753-6456.
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