Special Service-Learning Initiatives

Global Youth Service Day Extended Service-Learning Mini Grants –This funding is available to applicants who develop a youth-led, extended Service-Learning project (or three, separate Service-Learning projects) that engages youth (age 5-25) in meaningful opportunities to serve their communities on Global Youth Service Day, throughout the Summer of Service, and on the September 11th Day of Service and Remembrance. The ICVS is proud to sponsor this mini grant program as part of its role as Iowa’s lead agency for Global Youth Service Day.

• The mini-grant application, along with a detailed overview of the mini-grant requirements and expectations is available in Survey Monkey
• 2011 Mini Grant Scoring Rubric [PDF: 85k]
• 2011 Global Youth Service Day Handbook [PDF: 187k]

Summer of Service grants—Support collaborative efforts to implement community-based service-learning projects during the summer months. These grants fur summer service are funded by Learn and Serve America as one of their Innovative and Community-Based Service-Learning Programs.

• What it does—Programs engage students in community-based service-learning projects that are intensive, structured, supervised, and designed to produce identifiable improvements to the community.
• Who it involves—Middle school students (students who will be enrolled in grades 6 through 9 in the school year following the end of the summer).
• Programs are encouraged to recruit youth from disadvantaged circumstances and to build the sense of civic engagement and aspirations to obtain higher education in the student participants.
• Requirements—Program participants must complete at least 100 hours of service within the summer program
• What the participants earn—In addition to a great service learning experience, they are eligible for $500 or $750 education awards for use in pursuing future post-secondary education upon completion of all program requirements.

Semester of Service—This initiative of the Kennedy Serve America Act is designed to promote service-learning innovation. It is another Innovative and Community-Based Service-Learning Program funded by Learn and Serve America .

• What it does—engage students in semester-long service-learning projects.
• Who it involves—high school students
  • a large percentage of participants must be economically disadvantaged.
• Requirements—The student must complete projects lasting at least 70 hours
  • Projects could be either school- or community-based, but there must be a classroom-based component that is integrated into the academic program of the local education agency.