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The Jefferson Awards wants to help tell the country about the incredible service projects youth are doing. By entering your project on the Youth Service Challenge website, your group could gain local and national recognition, earn awards & cash prizes, or even a trip to Washington DC to be recognized at the Jefferson Awards National Gala! Enter your project in 3 simple steps on the website: 1. Sign up; 2. Tell us about your project; 3. Upload your results (photos, videos, etc.). It's simple and free! Be sure to enter before the deadline of April 30, 2013. You are changing the world! We want to tell the country!

This project seeks to transform our classrooms and schools by transforming the way teachers are trained. Future teachers gain direct experience with global learning networks as they engage in dialogue with their peers about teaching in the 21st century. The Future Teachers forum is a meeting place for university professors of education and the future teachers in their classes. Three kinds of discussions take place: 1) future teachers from around the world compare perspectives on creating effective and equitable schools and classrooms that will better meet the needs of all students, 2) future teachers share their reflections as they learn first-hand about iEARN's projects as facilitators, observers, or participants, and 3) professors of teacher education exchange ideas and resources for integrating global learning networks into their courses in different content areas. The Future Teachers Project was launched during the 1999 iEARN annual conference in Puerto Rico and has been developed collaboratively during subsequent iEARN conferences to offer future teachers direct experience with innovative technology use and global learning early in their careers.

In 2013, Green In Action Awards will be granted to inspiring projects based on GEF's sustainability themes. Winners are those schools, classrooms or youth groups who have demonstrated their commitment, creativity, or passion for sustainability in their application. Great application materials include photos, videos, essays, or artwork describing your environmental project, weigh-in, activity, community service project, or green team program! There are so many ways to participate and make a difference so show us how YOU are a champion for sustainability!

The Global Poverty Project utilises the power of education, communications, advocacy, campaigning and the media to advance the movement to end extreme poverty. We know extreme poverty is a complex issue, and that it can't be eradicated overnight, or by one person. That's why we're building a global movement for change: focused on making a difference now, and changing the systems and policies that keep people in poverty. We do this in two ways: * Campaigning for government, business and consumer action that will create important systemic change for the world's extreme poor, and * Building a movement that engages and educates people, and supports them to take simple but effective individual actions for change.

GLOBECHANGERS is based on a simple TEN STEP PLAN designed to take young Americans 25 or under from ideation to implementation as quickly and comprehensively as possible. The TEN STEP PLAN is animated right here on our state-of-the- art website, with video explanations, document creation tools, and a mountain of examples to stimulate imagination and get results. As you move through the plan, from "Think Big" to "Communicate," you're not just accomplishing a project: you're gaining valuable leadership life skills, like successful communication and marketing, or fund raising. The tools and skills offered to our Globechangers are the same skills that Jefferson Awards founder Sam Beard developed over 50 years in public service working with seven different US Presidents. As Sam puts it, "If I can create and run a program for seven different Presidents of the United States, SO CAN YOU. And here's how - Step by Step."

Page McBrier and Lori Lohstoeter, Beatrice's Goat (New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001). Age Level: 4 and up Publisher Description: More than anything, Beatrice longs to be a schoolgirl. But in her small African village, only children who can afford uniforms and books can go to school. Beatrice knows that with six children to care for, her family is much too poor. But then Beatrice receives a wonderful gift from some people far away -- a goat! Fat and sleek as a ripe mango, Mugisa (which means "luck") gives milk that Beatrice can sell. With Mugisa's help, it looks as if Beatrice's dream may come true after all. Page McBrier and Lori Lohstoeter beautifully recount this true story about how one child, given the right tools, is able to lift her family out of poverty. Thanks to Heifer Project International -- a charitable organization that donates livestock to poor communities around the world -- other families like Beatrice's will also have a chance to change their lives.

Why do a billion people still live in poverty worldwide, and what can be done to change this? The series Why Poverty? uses documentary film to get people talking about this critical problem, its causes, and its solutions. These eight films are co-productions of ITVS and STEPS International, and are part of a global cross-media project aimed at raising awareness of poverty in America and around the world.

A project targets women and young children in an effort to move Burkina Faso towards nutritional independence.

Linda Sue Park, A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story (New York: Clarion Books, 2010). Age Level: 10 and up Publisher Description: When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Silva becomes seperated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in the Sudan.

Jan West Shrock and Aileen Darragh, Give a Goat (Gardiner: Tilbury House Publishers, 2008). Age Level: 6 and up Grade Level: 1 and up Publisher Description: Can reading a picture book in class end up making a difference to a family that lives on a different continent? And what does a goat have to do with it? Some people think philanthropy is only for big foundations with lots of money, but that's only one part of the picture. In this true story, readers will discover what is possible when a class works together on a small, but successful project. Humorous illustrations show the process of identifying a charity and fundraising. Give a Goat is a useful template both for those who work with children and want them to experience the satisfaction of giving to others, and for kids who are looking for ways to make a difference.

Susan Bame Hoover and Maggie Sykora, Faith the Cow (Elgin: Brethren Press, 1995). Age Level: 4 and up Grade Level: Pre-K and up Publisher Description: Captivating story of the first animal sent overseas through Heifer Project International. Organization Affiliation: Heifer International

Caduto, Michael J. Riparia's River. Gardiner, ME: Tillbury House Publishers, 2011. Age Range: 8 and up Publisher's Description: Riparia's River is an eco-tale for children that teaches both the cause and the creation of solutions for non-point pollution of flowing water streams and rivers. Filled with lush, sun-splashed watercolor paintings of river and riverside habitat and the birds, insects, and plants that shelter there, Riparia's River is a beautiful teaching fable for children in elementary grades 3-6. A group of friends discovers their favorite swimming spot on the river is polluted, and harmful to the fish and animals that live in it. They are taught by a lady naturalist named Riparia what can be done to clean and repair the riverbanks and restore clean river habitat. The children cooperate and work with a will, inviting others to help when their replanting of riverside plants project grows. Riparia's River is a wonderful, empowering story for children who will inherit tomorrow the rivers, habitat, and creatures of today s ongoing stewardship. A nice community spirit message is embedded in the illustrations use of multiracial profiles for all the children, conveying the added idea that cleaning up our rivers and habitat is a global concern.

Gutman, Dan. Recycle This Book: 100 Top Children's Book Authors Tell You How to Go Green. New York, NY: Yearling, 2009. Age Range: 8 and up Publisher's Description: This lively collection of brief essays (and a poem) by 100 outstanding children's and young adult authors teaches through example. Each selection highlights a small step (or steps) taken by the writer toward a greener Earth. From Mem Fox's very serious "When the Rain Refuses to Fall" to Robert Lypsyte's silly "Captain Mean-Green's Ten Rules to Save the Planet," readers are encouraged to reduce their consumption (and waste) of energy and goods. The essays are grouped by location: "Your Home," "Your School." "Your Community," etc., and most end with a practical, doable suggestion, from the humble-use a clothesline-to the more complex-set up a worm compost. The essays also provide insight into the lives and thoughts of many familiar and beloved authors such as Laurie Halse Anderson, Ralph Fletcher, Gary Schmidt, Lois Lowry, Susan Patron, and Rick Riordan. Several pages of Web sites offer a starting point for action and information. Highly useful for classroom and family discussions and science-project ideas.