The Ray

Our Mission:

We provide opportunities for youth to engage in meaningful community service and empower youth to be service leaders in their community.

Vision:

We envision a world in which youth service opportunities are available, accessible, and inclusive, and provide spaces for developing leadership skills and civic engagement in personally meaningful community service.

Civic engagement is a way to improve the quality of life in a community through political and nonpolitical actions. As a young person, you can volunteer, join a service or civic group, raise funds for a cause, or possibly work on community designs. Civic engagement is vital to our democracy. If you are not yet old enough to vote, you might be 18 within 2 to 4 or 8 years, so being civically engaged at the local, state, and national levels is very important now. One action you can take is to write letters to advocate for your beliefs or values. To learn to whom you need to write, you can sign up with Ballotapia.org. You will have to provide your address and an email. Or you can search each level individually. Here is a federal search site. All elected officials provide several methods of contact. William James said it best: “Democracy is still upon its trial. The civic genius of the people is its only bulwark.”

• For Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) we ask all youth ages 5-25 to work together for the common good.
• Celebrate and demonstrate the impact youth make on their communities every day of the year.
• Local youth service organizations can choose from a menu of volunteer events planned by partner organizations, OR
• Youth can plan a service-learning project in their local community with our support.
• GYSD is Saturday, April 26, 2025, but events and projects can be any time between April 11 and May 11, 2025 (Global Youth Service Month)
• Check out our Scrapbook to see photos from last year's projects.

• Student Rebuilds is an arts-focused service-learning challenge for youth around the world.
• Youth study the social issue for theme and then create art, music, writing, dance, or other performances related to the theme. This year it is Spark Peace.
• Youth work is submitted to Students Rebuild and a donation of $5 is made to a peace-building nonprofit by Creative Visions. During February, the amount is DOUBLED!💗
• The Creative Visions Foundation honors former Reuters' photojournalist Dan Elden who was tragically killed at the age of 22 while on assignment in Somalia in 1993.
• Learn more about this year's challenge at StudentsRebuild.org.

Thank you to our partners Feeding Tampa Bay and United Way Suncoast for amplifying our project, and Youth Service America for providing us with the Lead Agency Grant . Elementary, middle, and high school students from Hillsborough County and Pasco County schools hosted various events related to food insecurity. While our numbers are still being calculated, we know youth service benefited Feeding Tampa Bay, Hope For Her, Thomas Promise, and Daystar Hope Center in Pasco County.

Join Learn and Serve Tampa as we support Realize The Dream in their mission to collect youth service hours to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with 100,000,000 hours of youth service for his 100th birthday on January 15, 2029! This program is YEAR ROUND. You can submit your hours whenever you prefer, but please submit!

• Youth can participate in our interactive memorial for 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance by creating memorial placards that include biographies and pictures of the 9/11 victims.
• We encourage acts of kindness and care to honor their memory.
• We can provide lessons to teach students about the causes, events, and consequences, but also to honor and remember those we have lost in these violent attacks.
• This is a perfect service-learning project for AVID, Civics, JROTC, and IB students.
• Planning for 2025 will begin in March 2025. Teachers, if you are interested in participating, email Learn and Serve Tampa Inc to learn more.

Do you know a youth aged 13-17 who is a natural-born leader looking to make positive change happen? Share this link for the Hershey Heartwarming Grant to support youth-led service projects! Applications for 2025 will open in late January. Should a student need support in writing the grant, we can set up a virtual session to help them create a successful application. Just reach out!

Learn more about application-based youth service teams, councils, and programs! Follow the link to learn when applications open, requirements, due dates, and any applicable fees (don't let that stop you!). Visit our Youth Resources page.

Need help? Learn and Serve Tampa Inc's website will soon have a tab dedicated to advise youth on finding local service experience that will work with their age and availability, location, and hopefully connected to the youth's interest, passions, and talents. We will not host registration for volunteering, but we will point you in the right direction and also guide you in planning your own service project if you would like to develop your leadership skills! Learn and Serve Tampa Inc posts any of its own volunteer opportunities on the United Way Suncoast Volunteer Website. Youth must be 13 or older to create an account. This website is a great resource for students and families looking for local ongoing service or one-time events. Youth should sign up through VolunteerFlorida. By creating an account , you will receive information about upcoming opportunities around the state. The official forms for documenting service for BrightFutures is linked in this newsletter. These forms can be downloaded, edited, printed, and, MOST importantly, saved!

Dear Educators,

As a classroom teacher for 29 years, I witnessed firsthand the transformative power of service-learning, which I used as an instructional tool for more than half of my teaching career. My introduction to service-learning was serendipitous—I unknowingly applied its principles in a high school World History class. That experience led to an invitation to attend the National Youth Leadership Council (NYLC) conference, where I discovered the pedagogy’s immense potential. Since then, I’ve passionately advocated service-learning in classrooms, schools, and districts.

Today, Amy Meuers, the Executive Director of NYLC, continues to champion this cause with dedication and expertise. As a NYLC Board of Directors member, I have the privilege of collaborating with Amy often. Her latest article, Why K-12 Schools Need Quality Service-Learning to Strengthen published by Medium.com last month, eloquently captures the urgent need to bring service-learning back into K-12 education.

I encourage you to read and share this article widely. It is a compelling call to action that underscores how service-learning not only enhances academic outcomes but also cultivates engaged, informed citizens who are equipped to uphold and strengthen our democracy.

Thank you for your commitment to education and to shaping the next generation of leaders.

Always in service,

Kristy Verdi

Executive Director

Learn and Serve Tampa Inc

You are always welcome to make a donation to help us grow. As a 501(3)(c) nonprofit organization, your donation will be tax deductible! Once the Holiday dust has settled, consider donating those unique and special gifts or gift cards to us to help us in our upcoming Winter Virtual Raffle! Every little bit help us on our mission.

Of course, the most direct route to supporting our work would be a direct donation through GiveButter!

We need to buy materials and supplies for youth projects, to provide transportation when needed, and general operating funds for insurance, bookkeeping, technology, and more. We hope to expand our capacity to serve and need your support!

As we step into a fresh new year, Learn and Serve Tampa is excited to embark on a journey of growth, service, and community engagement. We're setting bold resolutions to make 2024 a year of remarkable impact. Here's how you can be part of this mission:

• Recruit Project Sponsors: We aim to identify dedicated sponsors to support impactful projects for the three National Days of Service. Sponsors play a critical role in ensuring our community service initiatives are well-funded and successful.
• Form Program Committees: Help us bring creativity and leadership to the planning of each National Day of Service by joining a program committee. Together, we can ensure these days are memorable and meaningful.
• Celebrate Youth Volunteers: We’re planning a special event to recognize the incredible contributions of youth volunteers who are shaping a brighter future for our community. Join us in making this celebration unforgettable.
• Expand Our Network: By building connections with youth service organizations in Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas schools, we can extend the reach and impact of our programs.

These resolutions reflect our commitment to empowering youth and strengthening our community. Whether you’re a volunteer, sponsor, or supporter, your involvement is vital to achieving these goals.

Let’s make 2025 a year of service, collaboration, and lasting change. Together, we can accomplish extraordinary things! Join us today!

Student-centered education: Education is a process that needs to be entirely student-centered.

Youth Empowerment: Youth should be empowered to take action on issues that impact the world they are inheriting.

Democratic Thought: Not just what it is, but how you do it. The important role of self-discipline, respect for the rights and beliefs of others, and the process of teamwork and collaboration.

Equity and Equality Matter: An intentional focus on supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion of all human beings.

Healthy Planet, Healthy People: All institutions must adopt and lean into social and environmental sustainability goals.

Service for the Common Good is a Civic Responsibility: Service to others is expected of all. It is not a set of hours to complete. It is a moral imperative to sustaining human civilization. It is a key component to winning in life.