don't take it for GRANTed..lol.

The topic I chose to write about was education. I think it is important that children in the city of Albany realize that they are capable of graduating highschool and going on to college. Someone mentioned to me how excited the kids were when they found out that they would have the oppurtunity to visit Siena campus and that influenced my decision for this grant. My program would be for middle school kids. The program would be designed to offer information to kids about the importance of graduating high school and going on to college. People, possibly Bonners, would provide services to the kids to help them keep their grades up as well as information about colleges. It is best to start early. This program would count as service learning because it would offering education to children through the constant time and effort of others. My program aligns with the eight elements:
Meaningful Service: we are purposely trying to inform students about education and its benefits in a way that will enhance their interest in school.
LInk to Curriculum: it will be linked to curriculum in that we will set up a program in schools and depending on the year of the student (7th, 8th, 9th etc.) there will be a different set of learning possibilities.
Reflection: as Bonners we always have a reflecting session after everything will do so my program will have volunteer meetings to discuss the work that they are doing, why they are doing it and if they think it is helping.
Diversity: because this program will be offered for a variety of ages and for kids in different school districts there is guarenteed to be a sense of diversity.
Youth Voice: kids will be able to voice their opinions and share their feelings about school and how it plays a role in their life.
Partnerships: we would have to partner either with a school or with a program such as the Albany Boys and Girls club because it would have to be an afterschool program and we need to be acessible to the children.
Progress Monitoring: we can take surveys throught the school and through the parents of the students so that we can see if it is working or not.
Duration and Intensity: this program would be an all school year thing but I think it is only necessary to have one official lecture per week with possibly a tutoring program throughout the week.