A year ago, we relaunched the Young Leaders Society with a few big changes – an increased focus on volunteerism, a strong connection to UWATX’s Target Graduation program and the opportunity to give or raise $1,000 per year to make Austin greater. Today, YLS members are kicking off the YLS Virtual Giveathon to help keep students on the path to graduation. Since then, YLS members have planted trees, done campus clean ups, chaperoned dances and supported student volunteer leaders – and we enjoyed a lot of football. We’ve also worked with the students at Decker Middle School to advocate – and the state awarded $1.5 million to build them a sidewalk! All of that has led up to this two-week period where we start truly advocating for the students we’ve worked alongside – in their own words, a lack of funds is often what keeps them from accomplishing all that they want to. I’m sure you can remember how hard (and let’s be honest, so very, VERY awkward) middle school can be. And for many of us, that was without the added challenges poverty brings. I’ve volunteered directly on the three middle school campuses we support (Decker, Mendez and Webb) and alongside the students UWATX empowers to make change in their communities and seen the impact of our work directly. Seeing the impact UWATX’s work makes in these students’ lives makes it easy for me to ask for support and help other YLSers make their requests as well. In the last few weeks, […]
Read MoreA middle school perspective on leadership
On the surface, these students look like any other boys in the St. John’s neighborhood – Jose is a Webb Middle School student who likes video games and has lived in Austin all his life, Kevin is a freshman at Reagan High School who was born in Mexico and loves to play soccer. But they do something that makes them stand out from the pack: Kevin and Jose are actively changing their community at the ripe old ages of 11 and 15, respectively. We’ve been working with students like them for three years as part of our Target Graduation program. When we first partnered with campuses to saturate schools with the services that students need, we also adapted our Volunteer Project Leader program into a full-year course for middle school students, and over the past year, our Young Leader Society has been actively engaged with volunteer leaders at our three target middle schools. Kevin, Jose and 48 of their peers are making a difference by assessing what the needs are in their own school, putting together a plan to resolve those needs and leading their peers and YLS members to fix problems. This is Jose’s first year in the program, but Kevin’s been involved since it first started. “I enjoy getting to help people in the community where I live. I feel like I’m making a change at home,” said Kevin to YLS member Kara Birge when she sat down with the boys last week. “I got to help people today […]
Read MoreYLS & student leaders expand the Decker Middle School Garden!
Last month, a small group of volunteers gathered at Decker Middle School to work on the community garden. We were current YLS members, new volunteering recruits and Volunteer Project Leader students. One of the VPL leaders even invited a friend from another school to participate— as Julie commented, it truly is neat to see recruiting happening at that age! Standing on a large rock in the middle of the Decker Community Learning Garden, Annie and the student Leaders for the project welcomed the volunteers and described our task—to continue the work begun last year by the VPL class on the Decker Middle School Garden. Volunteers quickly got to work on the various projects including: painting the sign for the Decker Community Learning Garden, building two benches, digging holes for the sign and the benches, and making bags out of old banners. The most popular activity seemed to be the bag-making project. Julie shared this project from Keep Austin Beautiful. This project involved donated banners, staples, and duck tape. In addition to making bags for carrying the gardening tools, nearly all of the VPL students made at least one bag to bring home or to give to a friend. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see these bags as the new “in” fashion in the Manor community. To conclude the event at Decker Middle School, Annie made the surprise announcement that we were going to have a cartwheel contest! Congratulations Julie for winning the cartwheel contest. After saying our goodbyes to […]
Read MoreMentoring “can easily change lives with as a little as one hour per week”
In our work, we get to meet and talk with incredible donors and volunteers who are committed to our community – and one of the most remarkable among them is Julie Fisher. Not only is she on the YLS founding committee AND an Employee Campaign Leader for Samsung’s Employee Campaign, but for two-and-a-half years, she’s been giving her time every week to be a mentor. Since January is Mentoring Month, we thought we’d ask Julie a few questions about her experience: UWATX Question: What policies does Samsung have to allow their employees to do this kind of work? Julie’s Answer: One of Samsung’s core values is co-prosperity. We are dedicated to being socially and environmentally responsible corporate citizens in every community we operate in. Specifically at our local level, employees are allowed to volunteer on a workload and manager permitting basis. We offer volunteer opportunities at several different times to accommodate the schedules and shifts that our employees work. We encourage our employees to find their passion and connect with our nonprofit partners to ignite inspiring volunteer opportunities. How much time do you spend mentoring each week? What kinds of activities are involved? We meet for at least 1 hour each week . I visit Da’shyra during her lunch period and we usually do arts and crafts and talk about different things going on in her life. At the beginning of our mentoring relationship, we created a scrapbook that I bring every time to sketch, write and put pictures in. It is […]
Read MoreResults are in: Middle School Matters changes students’ lives, earns high marks from schools
Two years ago, we set out to change the culture of three middle schools serving low-income communities with Middle School Matters, a project in our Target Graduation program. Now, we’re seeing promising results for students, hearing great feedback from teachers and seeing powerful changes on the campuses. Click through the interactive infographic to explore some of these exciting results or download the full report for the 2012-2013 school year.
Read MoreVolunteering brings young leaders together (& so does tailgating)
Since the Young Leaders Society relaunched earlier this year, volunteering has been a significant focus for our group. It brings us closer to the community we’re working to support, and often it shows us a whole world we didn’t know existed right in our own back yard. A few weeks ago, we volunteered at Mendez Middle School to plant ten fresh trees on the campus grounds and do some much needed garden maintenance. Our group divvied up and conquered. Some dug holes and made space for the trees, some plucked weeds while avoiding large ant beds, and some went on a trash pick-up. During the trash pick-up, one member found a waterlogged copy of The Giver. We worked quickly and had some time to spare, when the campus coordinator informed us that just down the street at the recreation center many folks needed assistance after the Halloween floods. We quickly made a beeline to the recreation center for an impromptu volunteer opportunity. Donations were coming in fast and we were poised to sort them and get them to those in need – dozens upon dozens of bottled waters were loaded on pick-up trucks and to the neighborhoods. We were told that what families most need are baby supplies, i.e. baby formula, diapers, etc. After about half an hour the traffic died down, but we’d experienced the frenzy of being close the front lines of a disaster right in our backyard. In the past few weeks, others at UWATX have been […]
Read MoreYoung Leaders show their ‘Mettle’ when talking philanthropy
Our freshly re-launched group, the Young Leaders Society hosted our first official happy hour [PICTS!] this month at East Austin’s newest bistro, Mettle. (Mettle was gracious enough to lend their space for their first-ever special event – Thanks Mettle!) About 60 young professionals from numerous employers in the Austin area were represented and talked philanthropy with the YLS Founding Committee. The YLS signature cocktail (Habanero infused Tito’s, cherry bitters and Topo Chico), wonderfully concocted by Mettle’s mixologists took the edge off when discussing the embarrassing years as a middle school kid. Here’s what my fellow Founding Committee members had to say about the evening: “I was really happy to see that THAT many people shared the same enthusiasm for helping our community as the YLS committee does, not to mention the food was delicious!” –Juan Wah “The zeal in the room at our official re-launch happy hour only reaffirms my decision to be involved with YLS. I am confident this will NOT be just another “young professionals” group, but rather a gathering of personalities who will volunteer their time, ideas and passions to foster a positive difference in the greater Austin area.”—Marcus Everett “Over 60 people from 28 different leading Austin companies and organizations….great networking, food and drinks…great time!”—Rich Cleary All of us from the Founding Committee were excited to share information about our efforts and engage potential recruits around supporting UWATX’s Target Graduation, which aims to helping middle school students stay on the path towards graduation. While some of […]
Read MoreLet’s help Decker Middle School get a sidewalk!
UPDATE on 7.25.2013: As of today, TXDOT approved priority funding for the Decker sidewalk project, saying the Decker Middle School students that led this charge are “an inspiration.” TXDOT will provide $1.5M in funding to build the sidewalk. Local advocates will work to fundraise an additional $600K to support the project. Special thanks to Mark Marek for his help today! Almost a year ago, UWATX started a Volunteer Project Leader (VPL) class at Decker Middle School – bringing together 6th, 7th and 8th grade students to learn about their community, assess needs and create and manage projects to make real changes at their school. One of the most pressing needs they identified was a sidewalk to make getting to school safer, and over the past year, the students worked hard to make that a reality. The road in front of Decker Middle School is a four-lane highway and the speed limit only drops to 50 mph in the school zone. In the past year, one student was killed crossing the road to get to school. Another saw a person be hit by a car. To date, there has been a third death. In speaking with fellow students, teachers, administrators, business leaders and local advocates, safety was a top concern and the lack of a safe way to cross the street hit the top of the list. The VPL class at Decker led a letter writing campaign to let Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) and Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) officials know about […]
Read MoreVolunteer Project Leaders celebrate 8th grade graduation at school dance
As the 2012-2013 school year winded down, Volunteer Project Leaders (VPL) at Webb Middle School coordinated their 8th dance and celebration and closed out the year with a bang. The gymnasium overflowed with cheery family, friends, and educators as their special 8th grader was commemorated for graduating middle school. Among those in support of the hardworking school kids were the bigger kids from United Way for Greater Austin’s (UWATX) Young Leaders Society (YLS). The YLS founding committee was excited to help celebrate students’ hard work and achievements. Members set tables in preparation for the fun evening, decorated the gym with balloons, and manned the taco buffet and cupcake line. After tacos and cupcakes, the real fun began as the dance was underway. YLS member, Luke Martinez, had a memorable moment when called upon by a Webb 8th grader to learn the complex and choreographed movements of the Dougie. After Luke’s life transformed before his very eyes, other members engaged in the ever famous Cupid Shuffle, the Wobble and even had the distinct honor of dancing Tribal, a dance that has ignited a cultural revolution in parts of Mexico. By the end of the night everyone had new dance moves to add to their repertoire. [AFG_gallery id=’8′] YLS members had tons of fun – here’s what they had to say about the celebratory night: “Having had to achieve certain goals in order to have the dance, it was evident that the 8th grade students cherished being there. The dance was much better behaved […]
Read MoreVolunteer Project Leaders celebrate a year of success!
Just a few days ago, we celebrated the achievements of our Volunteer Project Leaders – 30 middle school students from Decker, Mendez and Webb Middle Schools who have become community advocates in just a few short months. Across three campuses and two school districts, students: completed 10 volunteer projects; gave 479 hours of volunteer work; and contributed the equivalent of $10,811 in volunteer time to the community! Projects included campus clean-ups, painting healthy and educational activities for outside play, creating campus motivational walls with letters from supportive adults, distributing food at a local food pantry and hosting a Community Cultual Celebration for families – just to name a few! To say Thank You and recognize their efforts, we gathered at UWATX offices – check out the pictures. Here’s what some of these amazing volunteer leaders – all 7th graders who participated in VPL – had to say about it all: Q: Why are you participating in United Way for Greater Austin’s VPL training? Valerie: I participated because I want to help other people and the experience I get from it. Breonna: I participated for fun! Jaritza: I saw it as an opportunity to do something in our community. Breon: I participated to join in on the VPL events and attend meetings. Q: What projects have you enjoyed the most? Valerie: I enjoyed Community Cultural Celebration the most because a lot of people were involved and I helped out my community in a good way. Breonna: The Community Cultural Celebration! Jaritza: The Community […]
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