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The MLO Scholars
| ETL Education Foundation, Milton L. Olive Middle School, Alpha Phi Alpha, YSA, and State Farm Insurance Company Partner to Enhance Education in Wyandanch, New York Service Learning At Its Best |
During the late fall of 2011, the ETL Education Foundation
leveraged its Virtual University Initiative and its close partnership
with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc (Eta Theta Lambda Chapter) to
assist Milton L. Olive Middle School (Wyandanch, NY) in applying for
grant funds to support the Foundation Getting to Know Our
Teachers Project. The project combines the best of adult
mentoring, scholastic support, educational technology and service
learning; all in an effort to provide opportunities for Wyandanch
students to bolster skills, complete a project, and serve their
community.
In January 2012 the Foundation was informed that it had won a
YSA/State Farm Good Neighbor Grant. State Farm™ has teamed up
with YSA (Youth Service America) to offer grants of up to $1,000 for
youth-led service-learning initiatives in K-12 public schools in all 50
states and the District of Columbia, and in the Canadian provinces
of Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick. Grant awardees engage
youth in service-learning, an effective teaching and learning
strategy that promotes student learning, academic achievement,
workplace readiness, and healthy communities.
State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grants encourage
semester-long projects (following YSA's Semester of Service
framework) that launch on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
(January 16, 2012) and culminate on Global Youth Service Day
(April 20-22, 2012).
Identified by the school's counselor, about 15 students, who named
themselves the MLO Scholars, began meeting with Foundation and
fraternity members to fashion a project aimed to improve the
relationship between teachers and students. This in turn led to the
development of a program that could simultaneously address this
issue as well as bolster students reading, writing, artistic, and
leadership skills.
From January through April students engaged in research and
academic activities that led to the development of a survey that
gathered biographical information about their teachers. Over 75%
of the school's teachers participated in the project. Students
developed short YouTube presentations introducing the program to
their teachers and to their principal Kester Hodge. They then
gathered and compiled the survey information into a 51 page
summary text to be distributed to the incoming freshman class next
fall. Students led the development of the product by serving as
editors (literary, photo, layout, etc.), interviewers, artists, and
presenters. The text has been professionally reproduced and will
be presented to the school this spring.
The program was a great success. Through State Farm’s sense of
responsibility in facilitating youth development, Youth Service
America’s global commitment to making this world a better place,
Milton L. Olive Middle School’s dedication to providing quality
education, ETL Education Foundation and Alpha Phi Alpha’s
steadfast allegiance to maintaining a positive grassroots presence,
and of course students’ commitment to be their best, once again
ETL Education Foundation's vision and mission of strategic
partnering to facilitate academic success has been realized.
leveraged its Virtual University Initiative and its close partnership
with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc (Eta Theta Lambda Chapter) to
assist Milton L. Olive Middle School (Wyandanch, NY) in applying for
grant funds to support the Foundation Getting to Know Our
Teachers Project. The project combines the best of adult
mentoring, scholastic support, educational technology and service
learning; all in an effort to provide opportunities for Wyandanch
students to bolster skills, complete a project, and serve their
community.
In January 2012 the Foundation was informed that it had won a
YSA/State Farm Good Neighbor Grant. State Farm™ has teamed up
with YSA (Youth Service America) to offer grants of up to $1,000 for
youth-led service-learning initiatives in K-12 public schools in all 50
states and the District of Columbia, and in the Canadian provinces
of Alberta, Ontario, and New Brunswick. Grant awardees engage
youth in service-learning, an effective teaching and learning
strategy that promotes student learning, academic achievement,
workplace readiness, and healthy communities.
State Farm Good Neighbor Service-Learning Grants encourage
semester-long projects (following YSA's Semester of Service
framework) that launch on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
(January 16, 2012) and culminate on Global Youth Service Day
(April 20-22, 2012).
Identified by the school's counselor, about 15 students, who named
themselves the MLO Scholars, began meeting with Foundation and
fraternity members to fashion a project aimed to improve the
relationship between teachers and students. This in turn led to the
development of a program that could simultaneously address this
issue as well as bolster students reading, writing, artistic, and
leadership skills.
From January through April students engaged in research and
academic activities that led to the development of a survey that
gathered biographical information about their teachers. Over 75%
of the school's teachers participated in the project. Students
developed short YouTube presentations introducing the program to
their teachers and to their principal Kester Hodge. They then
gathered and compiled the survey information into a 51 page
summary text to be distributed to the incoming freshman class next
fall. Students led the development of the product by serving as
editors (literary, photo, layout, etc.), interviewers, artists, and
presenters. The text has been professionally reproduced and will
be presented to the school this spring.
The program was a great success. Through State Farm’s sense of
responsibility in facilitating youth development, Youth Service
America’s global commitment to making this world a better place,
Milton L. Olive Middle School’s dedication to providing quality
education, ETL Education Foundation and Alpha Phi Alpha’s
steadfast allegiance to maintaining a positive grassroots presence,
and of course students’ commitment to be their best, once again
ETL Education Foundation's vision and mission of strategic
partnering to facilitate academic success has been realized.
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