District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) issued a partnership letter to LearnServe International, officially recognizing the high value of LSI’s work with students in the District. The Chancellor of DCPS expressed her gratitude to LSI for:
“…working to provide our students with an opportunity to develop skills around social entrepreneurship in both a local and global context”. Specifically mentioning LSI’s Fellows and Trips programs, the Chancellor emphasized that LSI is providing “a great opportunity for our students to engage in experiences that will enable them to make a difference abroad and in their own communities.”
Both DCPS and LSI are looking forward to their continued work together.
Congratulations to Scott Rechler, Director of the LearnServe Fellows Program, who was awarded the 2009 Linowes Leadership Award by the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region. Introduced in 1997, the Linowes Leadership Awards annual recognize “unsung heroes” who exercise their community leadership across multiple sectors. The award honors the legacy of R. Robert Linowes, Chairman of the Community Foundation from 1992-1997.
The following video was shown at the award ceremony:
LSI held the 3rd Annual Innovators Coffee House for the Fellows program yesterday. Fellows presented creative, one-minute descriptions of the issues they most care about and the solutions they propose to address them. Some of the ideas are quite advanced while others are still preliminary, and all will evolve over spring semester.
The coffee house ambiance and event format made it more of an open-mic night than a formal meeting. Fellows listened to each others’ presentations with an ear toward who they might collaborate with over the coming months. Venture ideas ranged from providing free golf lessons for low-income students, setting up a student-exchange program between DC area schools to increase diversity, to creating a scholarship program for kids of incarcerated parents. Look for detailed information on all planned ventures on this site soon.
Special thanks to the George Washington University’s School of Business and the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence, which hosted event.
Several former Fellows have been recognized recently:
Ashley Richardson, LSI Fellow ‘08 from Hyde Public Charter School, is a Freshman at Grinnell College and a Posse Scholar, a four year scholarship. She also writes that she hopes to someday start her own non-profit based on what she learned in the Fellows program.
Victoria Wang, LSI Fellow ‘09 from W.T. Woodson Senior High School, is a National Merit semi-finalist.
Mae Missana, LSI Fellow ‘08 from Central High School, is now a freshman at the University of the South and also is a Posse Scholar. She writes that her LSI Fellows and Trips experiences influenced her choice of college and her application, which focused especially on her LearnServe Trip to China.
We are proud to announce LSI’s first annual report. While our programs are already five years old, our first four years were under the auspices of Washington International School as the Center for International Education. One year ago, we became an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to better serve our rich diversity of schools and to focus on building the next generation of global changemakers. Now you can read about all the great things that happened in this past year on the Fellows and Trips programs. We hope you find it inspiring!
Tip: use the Fullscreen option in the toolbar for easier reading.
We want to thank Farhud Batmanglich at Xanthus Design for printing copies of the annual report and to our partner organization, the Institute for Education and its Founder/CEO, Kathy Kemper for their support in making this report possible. Marsh Gardiner, of the LSI staff, is the editor of the Annual Report.
51 of this year’s LSI Fellows kicked off the 2009-2010 program year with a weekend retreat to the For Love of Children Outdoor Education Center in West Virginia. The Fellows challenged themselves Continue reading ‘Kicking Off the Fellows Program’
The 2009-10 Fellows year has begun with 60 Fellows selected from 35 schools across the DC area. For the next eight months LSI will train the next generation of changemakers. View the calendar of upcoming meetings.
The 2009 summer LearnServe Trips to Paraguay and Zambia returned in July. As always, there were revelations and defining moments such as this one from Nathan in Paraguay: Continue reading ‘Making a Difference’
Zambia and Paraugay teams at the reception (Photo: Christopher Barclay)
Fifty students and teachers departed on LearnServe’s Trips programs to Zambia and Paraguay today for 18 days. Representing twenty schools from the DC area Continue reading ‘LearnServe Trips Depart’
On May 19th, LearnServe International recognized the 2008-09 LSI Fellows—29 high school students from the DC Metro region who have launched social ventures of their own design in order to affect change in their communities. Continue reading ‘Fellows Launch Ventures’
Congratulations to Scott Rechler, Director of the LearnServe Fellows Program, who was awarded the 2009 Linowes Leadership Award by the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region. Introduced in 1997, [read more…]
LSI held the 3rd Annual Innovators Coffee House for the Fellows program yesterday. Fellows presented creative, one-minute descriptions of the issues they most care about and the solutions they propose to [read more…]
We are proud to announce LSI’s first annual report. While our programs are already five years old, our first four years were under the auspices of Washington International School as
