This is a list of youth organziations I started to brainstorm in bed last night. Add ones you can think of (even if they're local) and I'll look into what we have to offer each other:
4-H
Girl Scouts / Boy Scouts / Brownies / Eagle Scouts
Catholic Youth Organizaiton
Babe Ruth
Little League Baseball / Softball
AAU sports
Recreational Leagues (sports at the town level)
Pop Warner
After school library groups
Girls Inc.!
YMCA
Boys and Girls Club
Big Brother Big Sister?
Camps Fire USA
Thanks.
The Catholic youth group is great as long as you give other religous youth group equal opportunity to join.
ReplyDeleteLittle League - I think Little League (baseball and softball) provides a new, interesting thread to this, and that's the international dynamic. You can't turn on ESPN in August and be blind to the Little League World Series, which encompasses youth and their families from around the world at their best, not to mention the ability LL has to bring together a community from May-August. You may think I'm overstating this, but I'm a sports fanatic and watching the LLWS is truly an amazing thing which receiees heaps of national coverage and attention from celebrities, athlets, and politics (including LL alumni George W. Bush). Today there is said to be 7,400 leagues in 100 countries.
ReplyDeleteSo how would they tie in? It's tapping into the male demographic that I think continues to get buried under the original "Locker Stocker" idea. We've moved on from that and with embracing both sexes are now embracing a variety of interests. Their groups focus could could include a scoreboard and discussions about pro sports. In terms of media coverage, I really think this is an area that's already heavily covered (although perhaps if your League does not make the LLWS, coverage is more at a national level). And not to mention it still includes softball, too...
*In terms of "participatory" journalism and answering the question of "how can they contribute" I think it would be really interesting to have the players chronicle either their season or their experience at the World Series. People would read it. And not just dads of 12-year-old boys.
Babe Ruth - Although I'm less familair with this league (and perhaps its touching on a demographic slightly older than our original intentions), Babe Ruth leagues contain 1,035,123 players.
AAU Sports - Amateur Atheltic Union. Again, these are teams that are already coverd in local papers, mainly because they are more successful (at a more than local level) than some of the local HS/MS teams, so I think news coverage is already there (obviously on a seasonal basis). The only problem with this organization is that it often combines girls from multiple communities, so you'd have to make sure the news sponsor encompases the majority of those, otherwise they will not end up connected. Why would they need to turn to LT? Again, sports. Fundraising is also big among these organizations.
Camp Fire USA Teens - each year they choose 2 national projects to focus their communiy involvement on. Some of the work is done at national conferences, while some is done right in their community (same national issue for both is my understanding). They also have a "teens in action" program for improving communities. Here news can be tied in through two means: one, their project/and notbeook group could become one in the same ... they begin to receive news about their proect to use. Secondly, sharing. The idea of wahtever project they come up with can be shared with others in their network, and then through the permission of the site admin, with other Camp Fire USA groups across wherever.
4-H - basically about learning life skills, citizen skills, leadership skills whether it be through animal science, cooking or sewing etc. It would definitely be a demographic that would reach a lot of different groups / news needs because of the variety of their projcts. Some numbers for you: 6.5 million youth currently enrolled, along with 540,000 volunteers, 3,500 staff and 60 million alumni.
In terms of news clippings, 4-H press releases and articles were always in my local paper (who won what at the county fair, etc). It's news about their friends, which gives them more motivation to read it. And another plus for future expansion of LT: it has a distinct local, yet very prominent national aspect. I think it's really important for us to understand that many of the feature we have designed for LT can work at both a local (now) and national (future?) level.
Catholic Youth Organization - A real focus on leadership building. They also have a kids club, aimed to service, sports and spirituality as well as growth through Jesus Christ. Through in the religious aspect and your tapping into whole new numbers.
Micah brought up a good point - what else is up their for religious organizations that youth are involved in??
Girls Inc. - this one fits in EXTREMELY well with some of the primative ideas of Locker Talker - middle school girls and activism. It's a "nonprofit youth organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. With roots dating to 1864, Girls Inc has provided vital educational programs to millions of American girls, particularly those in high-risk, underserved areas. Today, innovative programs help girls confront subtle societal messages about their value and potential, and prepare them to lead successful, independent, and fulfilling lives."
They're about activism (they have Action Alerts! on their Web site) and I think it's a great fit with the notebook groups. Their activism includes contacting organizations, political figures, goverment, and the media. What a better way to come together, brainstorm ideas, become educated on topics through the news than through a LT notebook group.
I think each of their different missions serve as a way we could gear news to their specific tasks -particularly the groups with the whole project thing going on. It seems like an easy avenue for the news we deliver. Then we can go back to the idea of them writing news - I think perhaps we've found a way to avoid the whole "i heart justin timblerake 4eva!" idea, becuase they can now write news relating to their project. Plus, a lot of the projects require a "share" component where they are required to write/share what they've found or their involvement. Any thoughts?
I know I didn't touch on every group I mentioned in the origanl post, but I hope I've at least given an idea of how they could all incorporate news (even if it's in a creative way).
Andrea,
ReplyDeletewow. Impressive.
I thought of some more groups that I will look more into tomorrow.
Student Councils
Sports teams (you said little league now, so just along those lines)
Classes
Homerooms
I'll try to think of some others
I can get on the blog with my phone.... But I can't post I found another potential kids group
ReplyDeletecheck it out:
Our Military Kids, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, dedicated to funding essential extracurricular activities for school-aged children of deployed and severely injured Reserve and National Guard military personnel.
Although the government makes significant resources available to children of active duty military personnel at military installations, these resources are often inaccessible for children of deployed and severely injured Reserve and National Guard personnel. Our Military Kids, Inc. is working hard to close this unfortunate gap—to make certain that all children of military families get the support they urgently need while coping with the absence of a parent who is away serving our country or recovering from severe injury.
When a military parent is deployed or recovering from a severe injury, extracurricular activities become all the more important for keeping kids involved and on-track. Unfortunately, in the case of Reserve and National Guard personnel, family incomes often shrink when a parent must take leave from his or her primary employment. The spouse left behind may need to work fewer hours in order to devote more time to the children at home. Just when these children need more extracurricular activities, the family can no longer afford to pay for them.
The mission of Our Military Kids, Inc. is to ensure that the children of deployed and severely injured Reserve and National Guard personnel can afford to participate in activities such as youth sports, fine arts and tutoring programs that are so important in their young lives during this stressful time. Deployed Reserve and National Guard parents are making enormous sacrifices for our country. Our Military Kids, Inc. is dedicated to minimizing the sacrifices their children must make here at home.
Our Military Kids is a 501(c)3 organization. Your donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.
Some aspects of this can directly fit in. The cool thing is there is a lot of school age shildren that have one thing in common.