Who’s ready for the 2008 Olympics? Personally, I’m totally disappointed that I can’t make it to Beijing this August, but my friends and I have decided to make up for that by organizing our own extravaganza in our community. We’re even going along with the Olympics theme, “One World, One Dream,” for our massive event. There’s just one little caveat – instead of assembling athletes, we’re bringing together a different cohort of leaders: young people.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone volunteered? When researching how many people actually volunteered I was alarmed to find that not that many people do. When checking in with the United States Department of Labor I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The statistics that I thought would be over half the population volunteering would be less then that. 

Working together with community resources in any service project can provide benefits for other organizations, as well as your own.  Collaboration is not limited to just other non-profits; you can seek out schools, large and small businesses, and the government.  It can be as informal as working together once on a community clean-up, to as formal as the creation of a city-wide beatification initiative. 

The Silent epidemic is quietly hitting America.  The alarming statistic – over 7,000 high school students drop out each day, and increasingly limit their chances for a successful future in society.  America’s Promise Alliance is part of the movement to end this silent epidemic, and this mission is forwarded by the Alliance partners, such as Teach for America.

Students throughout the nation are demanding a curriculum that is more relevant to the real world. When you think about it, it seems kind of odd that students should have to beg for classes that will teach them skills that they can use in the real world, isn’t that the purpose of school in the first place. Well, Educators in the Houston Independent School District are not only listening to what students want, but are actually implementing new and innovative programs to meet student demands.

The other day, as I was walking to Rite-Aid to pick up some toothpaste and floss, I noticed a large building undergoing construction, with a sign nearby that informed me it would soon become a magnet high school. Having graduated from one back home, I instinctively give an internal cheer. At the same time, I felt guilty: back home, I always kept up with news impacting both my district and the district I lived in. Yet, here a school was being built not three blocks from where I live, and I had no idea. In fact, I realized that I knew jack squat about any public schools in New Haven.