5 Promises Challenge

5

THE

PROMISES CHALLENGE The

America’s Promise Alliance needs your

help to

provide kids in

your community with the 5 Promises. Are you ready to accept the challenge?

5S

TEPS TO TAKE THE

CHALLENGE:

1. Get Informed Visit www.americaspromise.org to learn about the America’s Promise Alliance and find out why 5 Promises are a useful framework for helping kids grow up healthy, happy, safe and smart.

2. Get Organized Choose your Challenge Projects! Check out our Challenge Project Idea Sheets to find creative ideas for projects and interesting opportunities offered by our Alliance Partners.

3. Get Registered Download and complete the 5 Promises Challenge Registration Form. Mail, email or fax the form back to the America’s Promise Alliance.

4. Get Results After completing all 5 of your Challenge Projects, download and complete the 5 Promises Challenge Report Back Form. Mail, email or fax the form back to the America’s Promise Alliance.

5. Get Recognized Once America’s Promise receives your 5 Promises Challenge Report Back Form, you will be mailed a token of our appreciation from the America’s Promise Alliance, as well as receive a spotlight in the America’s Promise E-Newsletter and on the America’s Promise website.

THE

5

5 PROMISES CHALLENGE

The Promises 1. Caring Adults 2. Safe Places 3. Healthy Start 4. Effective Education 5. Opportunities to Help Others

CHOOSE YOUR CHALLENGE PROJECTS! By accepting the 5 Promises Challenge you are agreeing to identify, organize and implement a series of 5 Challenge Projects - one project for each of the 5 Promises. In order to help you get started, check out our Challenge Project Idea pages.

The Five Promises are the key resources that all children need in order to grow up happy, to stay healthy and to become successful adults and citizens. Children who experience at least four of the Five Promises at home, in school and out in their neighborhoods are much more likely to graduate from high school, avoid crime and violence and contribute to their communities.

On these pages you’ll find three types of ideas: 1. Projects from our Alliance Partners The America’s Promise Alliance is built of over 130 unique businesses, foundations, non-profits and youth serving organizations. Many of our partners have interesting projects and opportunities that young leaders can get involved with. The projects listed in this section are all sponsored by our Alliance Partners. Many of these projects have toolkits or resources available online.

2. Bright Ideas Projects listed in the bright ideas section are creative ways for young people to help provide the 5 Promises. Most of these projects ideas are not sponsored by a national organization so you’ll have to get creative in finding your own ways of making these ideas come to life!

3. Days to Celebrate It might be a good idea to plan your Challenge Projects so that they take place on a special day. In the “Days to Celebrate” section you’ll find a few interesting events to put on your calendar that are specific to each of the 5 Promises.

Once you review all of the Challenge Project Ideas, decide which 5 projects you’d like to work on. If you have a great idea for a project that’s not one of the projects listed on our idea pages, we encourage you to get innovative and try it out! Record your project plans on the 5 Promises Challenge registration form and submit the form to the America’s Promise Alliance.

CHALLENGE PROJECT IDEAS

PROMISE

1

Caring Adults

PROJECTS FROM OUR ALLIANCE PARTNERS: Absolutely Incredible Kid Day On this day, adults are encouraged to let kids know how valuable they are by taking part in a national letter writing campaign sponsored by Camp Fire USA. Organize letter writing events for your school or community to provide adults with an opportunity to write letters of love and support to the children in their lives. www.campfireusa.org/a_i_kid_day/mainpage.html

Big Brothers Big Sisters Contact your local Big Brothers Big Sisters to find out if they have school based mentoring programs or existing opportunities already organized for older

Kids need their parents and other people older than them to turn to for friendship, advice and fun. These mentors can be teachers, coaches, tutors, neighbors, religious leaders, or other members of the community— community— including older young people, like high school and college students.

students to be matched up as mentors for younger students. www.bbbs.org

Family Volunteer Day Help promote the importance of caring adults within families by organizing opportunities for families to volunteer together. Sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation and the Walt Disney Company, Family Volunteer Day was established to promote the fact that volunteering as a family provides quality time for busy families, strengthens communication and bonds, and positively impacts local communities across the nation. http://disney.go.com/disneyhand/familyvolunteers

Thank Your Mentor Day Sponsored by MENTOR, thousands of people take a few minutes each year on Thank Your Mentor Day to express appreciation and gratitude to those who are mentors for them. Organize activities that encourage people to celebrate this special day by writing a note, making a phone call, or sending an email.

DAYS TO CELEBRATE! November Nov. 18-24, 2007

National Family Week

www.hsph.harvard.edu/chc/wmy2007/Thank_Them/intro.html

BRIGHT IDEAS:

Nov.17, 2007

National Family Volunteer Day

January Jan. 2008

National Mentoring Month Jan. 24, 2008

Thank Your Mentor Day

March March 20, 2008

Absolutely Incredible Kid Day

May May 3, 2008

Join Hands Day May 5-9, 2008

Teacher Appreciation Week May 6, 2008

National Teacher Day

Create a list of opportunities for your

Coordinate a “Lunch Buddies” program where

Make a presentation to your Parent Teachers

peers to serve as role models and mentors while helping as

older students are matched up as mentors for younger students.

Association or School Board to raise awareness about

a coach or assistant for a sports team, music group, drama club or scout troupe.

Once a week the pairs meet for lunch at the younger students’ school to eat, talk and have fun

the importance of setting up in-school mentoring programs for students of

together. Encourage the older students to talk with the younger students about healthy eating

all ages.

habits and good study skills.

CHALLENGE PROJECT IDEAS

PROMISE

2

Safe Places

PROJECTS FROM OUR ALLIANCE PARTNERS: Lights on Afterschool Sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance, Lights On Afterschool is a yearly event celebrated to help showcase the afterschool programs offered in your community, and underscore the need for quality afterschool programs for all children. Make sure your community takes part in the celebrations! http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/lights_on/index.cfm

Advocate for Play Visit the KaBOOM! website to read up on why play matters. Check out their list of “20 Ways to be a Play Advocate.” Ideas range from researching the safe place

There are a lot of hours and days when kids aren’t in school; so there needs to be safe places for them to go to participate in appropriate, structured activities during those hours.

spaces in your community, to calling government officials, organizing community awareness events and hosting play days! If you really want to go all out, start fundraising and build a healthy and safe new play space by organizing a KaBOOM! playground build. www.kaboom.org

i-Mentor Program Help kids stay safe in the virtual world by starting an i-Mentor program at your school. Sponsored by i-SAFE, INC., the i-Mentor program gives you tools and tips that help you educate and empower peers, parents, and community members on how to make safe and responsible decisions online. i-SAFE provides lesson plans, activities and suggestions for events. www.imentor.org

Youth Traffic Safety Month Help the National Organization for Youth Safety raise awareness around the dangers of drinking and driving and encourage safe driving habits for teens by

DAYS TO CELEBRATE!

using their activity ideas to organize events during Youth Traffic Safety Month. www.noys.org/AllState.htm

September Sept. 16, 2007

National Neighborhood Day

BRIGHT IDEAS:

October Oct. 18, 2007

Lights on Afterschool

January Jan. 21-25, 2008

No Name Calling Week

March/April March, 2008

National Safe Place Week March 30 - April 5, 2008

National Boys & Girls Club Week

May May, 2008

Youth Traffic Safety Month

July July, 2008

Recreation & Parks Month

Volunteer to teach an after-school “life skills”

Use “No Name Calling Week” in January to put an

Contact area museums, theaters,

class, like cooking, creating and maintaining a budget,

end to bullying in your school and community. Download

business leaders, and sports complexes and ask them to

appreciating art, or basic fitness.

the Stop Bullying Now Guidebook developed by the Department of Health and

host monthly, weeknight or weekend field trips for groups of young people.

Human Services and use the activities to teach smaller children about bully

Ask them to help with transportation too.

prevention. www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/index.asp

CHALLENGE PROJECT IDEAS

PROMISE

3

Healthy Start

PROJECTS FROM OUR ALLIANCE PARTNERS: March of Dimes WalkAmerica WalkAmerica is the oldest and one of the most popular walking events in the nation. Get your friends and neighbors to walk and raise money to support research and programs to help babies in your community and across the nation get a healthy start. www.walkamerica.org

Host a Health Fair Visit the American Academy of Pediatrics’ website to find resources to help you organize a school or community-wide health fair. Use the fair to distribute

Kids need to learn how to eat healthy, how to exercise, how to recognize signs of trouble, how to manage emotions, how to talk about sexuality, and how to make smart decisions about alcohol and drugs. Learning these things now will help kids grow up to become responsible, healthy adults.

information about your state’s Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), immunizations, free or reduced-price health services and screenings, nutritional recommendations, vision and dental care, mental health issues, fitness and more. http://www.aap.org/family/healthfairkit.htm

Positive Choice Program Use the resources from the teen section of the Positive Choice Program from HOPE worldwide to teach teens about safe sex practices. The program equips youth with the tools to say no to risky behaviors and yes to their future goals and dreams. www.positive-choice.org

Prevent Teenage Pregnancy Visit the National Campaign’s Stay Teen Website to learn about teenage pregnancy prevention. This website was created for young people and provides

DAYS TO CELEBRATE!

resources, statistics, and ideas for how to get involved. www.stayteen.org

September Sept.9-15, 2007

Suicide Prevention Week Sept. 22-29, 2007

BRIGHT IDEAS:

YMCA’s America on the Move Week

October Oct. 23-31, 2007

Red Ribbon Week

November Nov. 2007

Prematurity Awareness Month

February Feb. 2008

Children’s Dental Health Month

March March 2008

National Nutrition Month March 2008

American Red Cross Month

April April 2008

Cover the Uninsured Week April 12, 2008

YMCA Healthy Kids Day

Help organize a

“Give Kids a Smile” event

Organize a series of health practitioner “show

Many schools are offering fewer

at your school or community on February 1, 2008. Taking place

and tell” events. Invite doctors, dentists, optometrists,

opportunities for physical education and recess. Help

during National Children's Dental Health Month, “Give Kids a Smile” was designed to provide

and mental health providers to visit classrooms to help students learn what happens

kids stay active by working with athletic teams or your sports-minded friends to

education, preventative and restorative care to low-income children who do not have

at their offices.

organize exercise and fitness classes for children at local schools, community

access to care. www.ada.org/prof/eventsfeatured/ gkas/index.asp

centers, religious organizations, and public housing complexes.

CHALLENGE PROJECT IDEAS

PROMISE

4

Effective Education

PROJECTS FROM OUR ALLIANCE PARTNERS: Common Cents Help teach students about good money habits in a fun, memorable way. Visit the State Farm Common Cents website to find games and resources to use with students from kindergarten to grade 12. It’s never too early – or too late – to develop good money sense! www.statefarm.com/learning/kid_stuff/commoncents/

Groundhog Job Shadow Day Encourage your school to participate in Groundhog Job Shadow Day. On this day students are encouraged to “shadow” adults in the work place and learn about

While schools take the lead in helping kids learn, they need help from community members, including additional tutoring and enrichment, jobjob-shadowing opportunities, internships, serviceservice-learning projects, and apprenticeships to help kids build a set of skills required in the job market.

fields of interest. Through this experience, students are able to see firsthand how the skills learned in school relate to the workplace. www.jobshadow.org

Semester of Service Youth Service America is encouraging students to develop a semester long service-learning project that launches on Martin Luther King Day in January and culminates on Global Youth Service Day in April. Help teachers inform teachers about this opportunity and work with classrooms to design and implement projects. www.imentor.org

Give Kids Good Schools Help make sure that all children are given access to a quality education. Help find ways to get your friends and classmates involved in the Give Kids Good Schools Campaign. Visit their website to learn about what you can do to help. www.givekidsgoodschools.org

DAYS TO CELEBRATE!

BRIGHT IDEAS:

October Oct. 18, 2007

Get Smart about Credit Day Oct. 15-21, 2007

Give Kids good Schools Week

February Feb. 2 2008

Groundhog Job Shadow Day

March March 3, 2008

Read Across America Day

April April, 2008

Teach Children to Save Day April 25, 2008

Take your Son or Daughter to Work

opportunities for students. Ask local professionals or a

Use the Start Something Curriculum (provided by the Tiger Woods Foundation and Target) with a group of

students information about admissions and financial

university business club to provide workshops on resume writing or interviewing skills to

younger students to get them thinking about what they want to be when they grow up and

aid, fields of study, student activities and employment, campus living and more.

help students get prepared to apply.

how they can get involved as volunteers in their community today.

Collect information about local internship

www.tigerwoodsfoundation.org/ startsomething/

Coordinate a college fair to give high school

CHALLENGE PROJECT IDEAS

PROMISE

5

Opportunities to Help Others

PROJECTS FROM OUR ALLIANCE PARTNERS: Global Youth Service Day Organize a project for Global Youth Service Day in April. On this day, millions of young people across the world branch out to projects ranging from park clean-ups to visiting people in senior centers to painting and restoring community centers. www.gysd.net

Kids Care Clubs Help teach younger kids about the importance of giving back by starting a “Kids Care Club,” a program of the Points of Light Foundation. The mission of

Studies show that when kids are asked to serve, they are eager to do so. Kids need to be asked to serve in their schools, religious organizations, afterafter-school programs, neighborhoods, athletic teams, youth groups and families.

these clubs is to develop compassion and the spirit of service and philanthropy in elementary and middle school aged youth. Visit their website to find tips and tools for how to start a club for kids in your community. www.kidscare.org

Presidents Volunteer Service Awards Make sure your school is sponsoring the President’s Volunteer Service Awards program to reward young people for serving 100 or more hours per year. To help promote the award consider starting a President’s Volunteer Service Awards Challenge in your school or community to see who can log the most volunteer hours. www.presidentialserviceawards.gov

Red Kettle Collections

DAYS TO CELEBRATE!

Organize volunteers from local schools to ring bells for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Collections in December. Each year the Salvation Army raises millions of dollars to aid needy families, seniors and the homeless. www.salvationarmyusa.org

September Sept. 11, 2007

My Good Deed Sept. 17-23, 2007

National Learn and Serve Challenge

October Oct. 27, 2007

BRIGHT IDEAS:

Make a Difference Day

January Jan. 21, 2008

Martin Luther King Jr., Day of Service

February Feb. 9-15, 2008

Random Acts of Kindness Week

April April 22, 2008

Earth Day April 25-27, 2008

Global Youth Service Day April 27– May 3, 2008

National Volunteer Week

May May 5, 2008

Join Hands Day

Did you out grow trick-or-treating? Try

Do groups like your school board, city council, and

Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week

something new this year. Get people from your school and

community foundation grant committees have young people

at your school and engage your classmates and friends

community to dress up and

serving on them? If they don’t, volunteer to work with them to develop opportunities, write up

in some of the special activities offered by the

Trick or Treat for UNICEF. www.unicefusa.org/trickortreat

the descriptions and recruit young people to serve. Check out the resources on the Youth

on Board website to get started. www.youthonboard.com

Random Acts of Kindness Foundation http://www.actsofkindness.org

GET REGISTERED! Directions: Please provide the following information below. (If you are registering on behalf

Directions: Check one of the following boxes.

of a team, please choose one person to be your key contact.)




I am registering for this challenge on behalf of myself. While I may involve my friends along the way, I have decided to complete the 5 Promises Challenge as an individual.




I am registering for this challenge on behalf of a group of young people. (e.g. a student organization, team, club, etc.)

First Name:

Last Name:

Address: City:

State:

Zip:

If you checked this box:

•

What is the name of your group?

Phone Number:

School Name:

•

How many people are involved with this group?

Birthday:

Email Address:

•

What is your role within this group? (e.g.: captian, chair, prez.)

CHOOSE YOUR PROJECTS!

Directions: Please check one box for each of the 5 Promises to indicate which project you plan to complete. Listed below are the projects made available by our Alliance Partners. If you decide to create your own project that fulfills one of the 5 Promises, please check the “Other” box, and list on the line next to it what you intend to do. In the box titled “Share your plan!” provide for us any additional details you have determined right now about the projects you selected to complete.

PROMISE

1

Caring Adults

PROMISE

2

Safe Places

PROMISE

3

Healthy Start

PROMISE

4

Effective Education

PROMISE

5








Absolutely Incredible Kid Day Big Brothers Big Sisters Family Volunteer Day Thank Your Mentor Day Other: ___________________________

1. Share your plan!








Lights On Afterschool Advocate for Play i-MENTOR Program Youth Traffic Saftey Month Other: ___________________________

2. Share your plan!








March of Dimes WalkAmerica Host a Health Fair Positive Choice Program Prevent Teen Pregnancy Other: ___________________________

3. Share your plan!








Common Cents Groundhog Job Shadow Day Semester of Service Destination Imagination, Inc. Other: ___________________________

4. Share your plan!




Global Youth Service Day

5. Share your plan!

Opportunities
Kids Care Clubs to Help Others
Presidents Volunteer Service Awards



Red Kettle Collections Other: ____________________________

Once completed return this form either...

by mail:

by email:

America’s Promise Alliance Attn: Katie Peters 909 N. Washington Street, Suite 400 Alexandria, VA 22314-1556

[email protected] 703.535.3903

by fax:

REPORT BACK FORM Directions: We want to hear your results!! After you finished your 5 Challenge Projects, please complete this form and mail it back to us. Once we receive this form, we’ll be sure to recognize you for your great effort! Feel free to use additional paper or include attachments such as newspaper clippings, photos, etc. First Name:

Last Name:

Address: City:

State:

Phone Number:

School Name:

Birthday:

Email Address:

PROMISE

1

Caring Adults

Zip:

What project did you complete?






Absolutely Incredible Kid Day Big Brothers Big Sisters Family Volunteer Day Thank Your Mentor Day Other: ___________________________

How many people volunteered to help with this project?

How many kids were provided with a Caring Adult as a result of this project?

Tell us about it! What was the most successful part of your project?

PROMISE

2

Safe Places

What would you change about your project if What did you learn by completing this project? you were to do it again?

What project did you complete?






Lights On Afterschool Advocate for Play i-MENTOR Program Youth Traffic Saftey Month Other: ___________________________

How many people volunteered to help with this project?

How many kids were provided with a Safe Place as a result of this project?

Tell us about it! What was the most successful part of your project?

What would you change about your project if What did you learn by completing this project? you were to do it again?

REPORT BACK FORM, CONTINUED PROMISE

3

Healthy Start

What project did you complete?






March of Dimes WalkAmerica Host a Health Fair Positive Choice Program Prevent Teen Pregnancy Other: ___________________________

How many people volunteered to help with this project?

How many kids were provided with a Healthy Start as a result of this project?

Tell us about it! What was the most successful part of your project?

PROMISE

4

Effective Education

What would you change about your project if What did you learn by completing this project? you were to do it again?

What project did you complete?






Common Cents Groundhog Job Shadow Day Semester of Service Destination Imagination, Inc. Other: ___________________________

How many people volunteered to help with this project?

How many kids were provided with an Effective Education as a result of this project?

Tell us about it! What was the most successful part of your project?

PROMISE

5

What would you change about your project if What did you learn by completing this project? you were to do it again?

What project did you complete?

Opportunities
Global Youth Service Day to Help Others
Kids Care Clubs




Presidents Volunteer Service Awards Red Kettle Collections Other: ____________________________

How many people volunteered to help with this project?

How many kids were provided with an Opportunity to Help Others as a result of this project?

Tell us about it! What was the most successful part of your project?

What would you change about your project if What did you learn by completing this project? you were to do it again?

Once completed return this form either...

by mail:

by email:

by fax:

America’s Promise Alliance Attn: Katie Peters 909 N. Washington Street, Suite 400 Alexandria, VA 22314-1556

[email protected]

703.535.3903