52 flvs students change their world

52 FLVS STUDENTS
CHANGE THEIR WORLD
A SAMPLE OF SERVICE PROJECTS FROM THE FLORIDA
VIRTUAL SCHOOL MAWI LEADERSHIP SKILLS CLASS
OVERVIEW
Over the last year, students in the FLVS
Mawi Learning Leadership Class have led
over 1,000 service projects. Students
chose, planned, and implemented their
service projects as the culmination of their
leadership training.
This report shares 52 of the most
outstanding and representative
service projects. We hope you
find them as inspiring and
thoughtful as we do!
Who are they serving?
WHO ARE THEY
SERVING?
The three biggest
impact areas were the
environment, youth,
and fundraising.
Environment
Fundraising
Animals
Elderly
Youth
Homeless
Other
Who partners with our students?
WHO PARTNERS
WITH OUR
STUDENTS?
The biggest partners
were schools and
community agencies.
Students also ran their
own independent
projects.
Community
Agencies
Library
Religious
Institutions
Health Care
School/Park
District
On Their Own
What leadership skills did
students value most?
LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
HIGHLIGHTS
Students said the most
important leadership
skills for their projects
were goal-setting,
communication, and
teamwork (Team
Clock).
Team Clock
Turbo Button
Leadership
Styles
Personal
Branding
Communicati
on
MAD Goals
ANIMAL SAFETY BROCHURE
Amy saw a need for education in her community due to a rise
in dangerous, wild animal encounters. She created an
educational brochure which included precautionary steps to
take in order to prevent potentially dangerous encounters,
and a list of who to call if they do suspect a potentially
dangerous wild animal to be in the area.
Amy presented her brochure to
community residents at an
association meeting where they
gave her permission to pass the
brochure out to over 350 homes
in the area! Amy received very
positive feedback from
community members who said
they felt safer now with her
brochure as a resource.
6
ADMINISTRATIVE HOSPITAL VOLUNTEER
Jenny contacted the
local hospital, and asked
them how she could
help. She filed papers,
put patient labels and
dates, put in patient
information (on Excel),
answered phone calls/
transferred phone calls,
neatened book shelves,
sanitized computer
desks, and tallied the
number of visitors in the
PERC area.
AT HOME ANIMAL FUNDRAISER
Aaron wanted to do a fundraiser for animals, but found that
many pet stores in his town wouldn’t let him fundraise in front of
their stores. So, Aaron made colorful posters and hung them
throughout his front yard. He collected cat and dog food,
brushes, and lots of toys! He even set up a place for cash
donations and raised $86.00 in just a few hours. He donated
everything he collected to an animal shelter in his community
and was very pleased with the outcome.
PHYSICAL THERAPY VOLUNTEER
Shireen volunteered her time in
a Physical Therapist’s office,
specifically in the Spinal
Therapy department. Shireen
delivered paperwork and
helped clean the equipment,
but recalls her most valuable
experience being the time she
spent observing how the
Physical Therapists worked.
Shireen hopes to become a Physical Therapist one day and see’s
her future as a Physical Therapist as a way to help patients and
have fun at the same time.
Dominican Republic Volunteer
Brandon went to the
Dominican Republic with
members of his Church for one
week. He helped build houses
and provide food in
communities of need. Brandon
donated some of his own
clothing and toys to the
children in the village where
he stayed, but recalls that just
playing with the children as
the most impactful experience
he had while volunteering.
5K FOR BRAIN CANCER
Samantha ran a 5K which
benefited Brain Cancer
research. Samantha recalls
running this 5K as an event
that made her strong both
physically and as a leader.
She was able to complete
the race in under 35 minutes
and actually won the race
for those in her age bracket!
This experience reminded
Samantha to always push
herself and that it’s
important to combine a
person’s skills and service in
order to get great results!
Clean Beaches
Juan was concerned about the cleanliness of the
beaches, rivers, and ponds near his home, so he decided
to go out on his own and clean up some of the areas
that were in obvious need. He picked up bottles,
wrappers, nets, and cigarettes, and felt very positive
about the impact he had made on his environment.
HOCKEY STAR
Brian volunteered by helping
a local youth hockey coach
run his practices. Brian
volunteered for about one
month and had a lot of fun
teaching the kids on the team
everything he knew about
hockey. Brian was pleased he
could help give the coach a
little bit of a break to take
care of other issues and he
really enjoyed the positive
feedback he got from the kids
and their parents. He is
especially proud of his ability
to combine his love of hockey
and his leadership skills in to
this great service experience!
Nursing Home
Sarah volunteered her time at a nursing home in her
community. Sarah spent time just talking with the residents and
offering her company. She helped residents participate in
activities and go where ever they needed to go.
Sarah used to be
very shy and
introverted, but
after her
experience at the
nursing home, she
is more confident
making friends
and
communicating
with the patients.
RAISING MONEY FOR A TEAM
Jack’s soccer team did not have enough money for a
tournament. Jack came up with the idea to fundraise in front
of Publix and try to raise the money so that his team could go.
After multiple phone calls with
parents and store managers, Jack
found a store that would allow the
team to fundraise. Jack gave the
players a list of things to bring and
reminded them the night before
about the activity. After 6 hours of
standing in front of Publix, the team
raised 356 dollars, 56 dollars over
their original goal. With the money
that the team raised, Jacks’ team
went to the tournament and started
saving up for the next one.
15
HORSE FARM
Antonio volunteered his time at a local horse farm where he helped
care for four particular horses who had been rescued. He cleaned
their stalls, gave them food, changed their water, let them out to
run, brushed them, and bathed them. He found that there are
many horse owners who do
not take proper care of their
animals and that this was why
the four horses he cared for
on that day needed his help
so much. Antonio made a
positive impression on the
owner of the horse farm and
has been welcomed back to
help out with the horses any
time!
Muscular Dystrophy
Juliana attended a Lock-up for Muscular Dystrophy through her
community. Juliana was inspired by the amount of money
raised for the organization, but recalls her most inspiring
encounter being when she got to meet a few children at the
event who have Muscular Dystrophy. She felt proud of her
involvement in the Lock-in when she heard how thankful and
appreciative the kids were.
Juliana hopes to continue
volunteering with the
Muscular Dystrophy
Association and feels very
strongly about the cause.
YOUTH GROUP
DeVonne completed some community service with her
Church’s Youth Group that she attends every Monday. One
community service activity they did was to tutor and watch
over kids from at a local community center. This experience
helped DeVonne see how important it is for the kids in her
community to have a role model.
She was also surprised to find that
the kids were very well mannered
and nice instead of very loud and
impatient, which is what she
thought kids were like before
beginning this community service.
DeVonne hopes that her impact
as a role model will continue on
and inspire the kids she helped to
grow up and help others as well.
Vacation Bible School
Madison volunteered at her Church’s Vacation Bible School by
watching over a class of 4 year olds. She originally thought it
would be a boring or uneventful way to volunteer, but found
out that it was actually very rewarding and much more fun
than the babysitting she had done in the past.
Madison received very
positive feedback from her
co-workers and parents –
many who said she was a
natural at working with kids.
She was able to comfort kids
who were scared and sad
and made many members of
her Church feel comfortable
leaving their young kids in her
hands.
SURFERS FOR AUTISM
Russell participated as a Surf Instructor for a program called
Surfers for Autism. He was able to teach kids with Autism how
to surf all day long! Over 300 families participated in the
program and he looks forward to volunteering for many years
to come.
A HELPING HAND
Austin completed his service project through helping one of his
neighbors complete some tasks around their home. His neighbor
is a single mother with a disabled son and has trouble finding
time to do yard work. After Austin completed the yard work, he
sat with his neighbors son and watched the cars on the street go
by, since that is what he enjoyed doing.
Austin recalled feeling very proud of
the yard work he had accomplished
and looks forward to spending more
time with his neighbor’s son and
continuing to help them out any way
he can.
RECYCLING EDUCATION
Ashley saw a need for education in her community, specifically
on the topic of recycling. Ashley posted educational flyers on
recycling around her town. The flyers highlighted why recycling is
important to the environment and listed some reasons why it
should be important to the community members on a personal
level. Ashley noticed that after her flyers went up, more people
in her neighborhood started using their recycling bins more often
and she feels confident that her community education effort
had a great impact on her community!
SOUP KITCHEN
Marcus volunteered at a local soup
kitchen. He was responsible for
cooking all of the meat and
vegetables, making salads, and
keeping the tables clean. He also
helped serve drinks and was happy
and surprised to find that between
the two choices of sweet tea and
milk, most of the recipients chose
milk, which is the healthier choice.
Marcus also read inspirational
excerpts from the Bible and really
enjoyed being able to put a smile
on the faces of everyone who
attended.
WILDLIFE HOSPITAL
Rea volunteers at the Florida Wildlife Hospital each week
where she is able to work with the wildlife hospital team in
order to rehabilitate injured or abandoned animals. She
participates in caring for the animals by preparing their food,
feeding them, and cleaning up their enclosures.
Rea takes a lot of pride in her ability to
do the time consuming tasks that allow
the hospital employees more time to do
more important work. She enjoys
helping the employees at the Wildlife
Hospital just as much as helping the
animals.
SUMMER CAMP COUNSELOR
Rosio volunteered at a local summer
camp where she helped kids in
areas of life skills, math, reading,
and cultural arts. Rosio assisted them
in any subject area they struggled
with, but found that the most help
was needed in math. She helped
the kids improve in all subject areas,
but found that the biggest impact
she had was setting an example for
the kids of how important giving
back to one’s community is. She
encouraged the kids to see that
helping people should come from a
person’s heart and not because of
a pay check.
ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT FUNDRAISER
Miguel completed his service project through raising money for
his school’s athletic department. Miguel recognized that their
equipment and uniforms needed some updating, so he and his
teammates asked the principal for permission to fund raise and
then began working. They organized a bake sale and promoted
it by posting flyers around their school.
Miguel organized a consistent
fundraising schedule so that his
teammates were able to participate.
On average, the team raised about
$300/week and recently reached
their overall goal of $5,000. Their
fundraiser gained so much
community attention, they were able
to attract a local sponsor and will be
wearing their new uniforms this fall!
ANIMAL SHELTER VOLUNTEER
Annalisa volunteered at a local animal shelter. On her first day,
Annalisa got to play with some of the kittens and considered
walking some of the dogs but was a little scared at first. Annalisa
had previously had a negative experience with a dog which
made her afraid, but after some time educating herself and
getting more comfortable with the animals, she decided to go for
it!
She was able to overcome
her fear of dogs and actually
became quite close with one
dog in particular who is
disabled. She takes him on
walks, helps train him with
hand signals, and hopes a
nice family will adopt him
soon.
YOUTH FOOTBALL CAMP
Shawn completed his service project by helping to organize and
youth football camp for kids ages 7-14. Prior to the start of camp,
Shawn helped organize the sign up and promotions. During camp,
he helped teach the fundamentals of football primarily for the kids
focusing on the offense.
Shawn kept a positive attitude because
he knows how important
encouragement is to a person’s selfesteem. 33 kids joined the camp and the
money raised helped fund Shawn’s high
school football team. Shawn is proud of
the positive influence the camp had on
the community, the positive influence he
personally had on the kids, and the
money he was able to raise for his team.
CLOTHING DRIVE
Madeline wanted to do a clothing
and household item drive for her
service project. She sent out flyers,
e-mails, and used word of mouth to
market the clothing drive which
benefited the Salvation Army.
Madeline also collected money
which benefited a local
organization that helps provide
clothing and furniture for those in
need.
COMMUNITY GARDEN
Dejárae knows that her community needs a little help coming
together as one. Afraid of living in an unintentionally segregated
community, she decided to bring community members together by
starting a community garden. Dejárae has assured that the garden
will have enough plots for anyone who wishes to participate. She
has even assured that the garden is suitable for growing
hydroponics and she has made an
agreement with a local produce
farmer for him to buy some of the
products the community garden
produces! She hopes the garden
will create a strong bond between
neighbors and will allow her to
generate funds that will help her
build more community events in the
future .
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
Jennifer wanted to make people
happy for her service project, so
she decided to do 50 “random
cards of kindness.” She wrote out
50 cards, each with a nice saying
or piece of encouragement like,
“Let’s make today better than
yesterday!” Jennifer and her
friends slipped the notes into
random mailboxes around her
neighborhood in the hopes that
they would make people smile!
Although Jennifer didn’t get to see
the recipients’ reactions, she is
confident that her random cards
of kindness made people very
happy.
BEACH CLEAN UP
Tiffany decided that a beach near her home was in need of a
clean-up, so she pulled together a group to help her. The group
split up into pairs, Tiffany gave each pair a garbage bag, and
the group made a goal to not leave until their garbage bags
were entirely full.
Each group was successful and
Tiffany felt very positive about the
effect she and her team had on the
beach. Tiffany even recalled one
beach patron who saw what she
and her team were doing and went
back to pick up a piece of trash she
had dropped on the ground. Tiffany
received many thank you’s from
beach patrons and found the
experience to be very rewarding.
UNICEF
Jessica helped fundraise for a
global program called UNICEF,
where the money she raised
went toward the prevention of
neonatal and maternal tetanus
in third world countries. $1.80
could affect the life of one
mother and child, but Jessica
knew she wanted to make a
big impact, so she held a bake
sale, a raffle, a “walk for the
cure,” and sold Carnations in
order to raise the money. In the
end, Jessica raised $1,172.47
which impacted a total of 651
lives.
BOY SCOUT CAR WASH
Michael wanted to hold a car wash for his Boy Scout troop in order
to raise enough money to go on their summer trip.
Michael asked the
owner of the car wash
for permission, bought
supplies, organized
tickets for pre-sale, and
organized members of
his troop to volunteer at
the car wash. He also
made signs that helped
to market the car wash
and assigned one of the
parents to help handle
the money.
BOY SCOUT CAR WASH
Adil represented his school’s SWAT, Students Working Against
Tobacco, team through giving a presentation to county
commissioners concerning candy flavored tobacco. Adil had
learned how tobacco companies were trying to target youth with
their candy flavored product, so he took this opportunity to
educate his community and their leaders.
Adil’s presentation resulted
in a resolution granted by
the county commissioners
which will have a very
positive effect on the health
and well-being of the
young people in his
community.
HIGH SCHOOL BAND FUNDRAISER
Vlad is a member of his high school band. After some time,
Vlad realized that some of his fellow members were having
trouble paying their band fee’s, so he decided to help. Vlad
organized a car wash in order to raise money so that all
members could stay members of the band. He was able to get
members of the band and color guard to help him volunteer at
the car wash and they raised $700 which was $200 over his
original goal.
BEST BUDDIES
Anaya volunteered through an organization which actually
allowed her to volunteer on two different occasions. First, she
participated in a clean-up at a nearby bay. Secondly, she was
able to volunteer with the Best Buddies organization which
supports building positive relationships between young people
with disabilities and young people without.
Anaya participated on their
“Exercise Day,” and had a
wonderful experience. She
found that she has a deep
interest and passion for
working with people who
have disabilities and has
committed to participate in
the program again next
year.
PROMDRESS.COM
Andrea started a website where girls could go to find gently used
Prom dresses. She felt this was important because sometimes,
buying a Prom dress can be very expensive and she didn’t want
anyone to have to miss out on an important night because they
couldn’t afford a nice dress.
Girls who donated their
dresses could go on the
website and post a
picture, and those in need
were able to go on and
look for one they liked. All
dresses were donated in
their entirety.
FOOTBALL RECRUIT
Tyree initiated a Football Recruiting Resource program for his
county. This program serves high school football athletes and
focuses on helping the athletes understand the college football
recruiting process. The program taught the players how to identify
colleges, approach coaches, and promote themselves in order to
obtain a college scholarship. The players learned how to promote
their accomplishments, post their highlights, write letters, and
manage their social media presence. The program resulted in many
college football camp invitations, several students landed on a
“watch list,” and one who did receive a scholarship. Tyree also
received attention from a major sports publishing company who
asked him to write a weekly recruiting blog.
COMMUNITY GARDEN
Andre decided to start a
community garden for a group
of students who were
committed to improving their
lives after being committed for
misdemeanor crimes. Each
group member committed to
take some time each week to
tend to the garden’s fruits and
vegetables. When the fruits and
vegetables were finished
growing, the group decided to
donate them to a local church.
MILITARY VETERAN FUNDRAISER
Shonda’s service project was putting together a fundraiser for U.S.
military veterans. Her initial goal was to raise $100 and she
accomplished that goal after fundraising for just five days! She held
the fundraiser at school, however she also created a Facebook
page in order to help promote the fundraiser.
NEWBORN HATS FOR THE HOSPITAL
Patty wanted to use her sewing skills for her service project, so she
decided to sew hats for new born babies in the hospital near her
home. Patty used small looms and thick yarn to make the best hats
she possibly could. Although she won’t hear back about the impact
she had, she knows she did something good and hopes to make
more soon.
CHAIR POCKETS
Lindsay collected twenty pairs of donated jeans and used them to
create “chair pockets” for inner city schools. Lindsay cut and sewed
the jeans into pockets that can slide onto the back of student’s
chairs so that they have a space near their desk to hold their books.
This was a huge help to the
schools that could not afford
new supplies for their students.
Lindsay made chair pockets
of many sizes so that they can
be used for multiple ages and
re-used for many years to
come.
Pencils for Progress
When David was a Sophomore in high school, he created a
program called Pencils for Progress while preparing to leave for a
volunteer trip in Tanzania. David recognized the opportunity to
help others both locally and globally. David collected gently used
school supplies from schools in his district, then donated half to a
local fund for teachers in need of supplies for their students, and
the other half to a primary school in Tanzania. Over the past three
years, David’s organization has donated more than 1,200lbs of
school supplies to the students in his community and students
abroad.
FOOD FOR HAITI
Alison wanted to do something for the people of Haiti who were
affected by the earthquake. She participated in the collection with
a group that packed nearly 40,000 bags of food. Inside each bag,
they packed vitamins, rice, soy, and vegetables for them to eat.
PAINTING A HOME
Sofia volunteers every year with an organization that paints the
home of a low income senior in her community. This year, she was
able to take on more responsibility than she has in the past. She
supervised the removal process of the old paint before a new coat
could be applied. This is a big responsibility!
BUDDIES
Jorge participates in his schools mentoring program where students
from the middle and high school get paired up with an elementary
school, “buddy.” Every Wednesday, the buddies meet and get to
play on the playground.
Jorge had a lot of fun getting to know his
buddy and even more elementary
school students. He realized how much
the younger students enjoyed the time
they spent together and recalls having
just as much fun as his elementary school
buddies!
FIREHOUSE VOLUNTEER
Devon participated in his towns Fire Rescue by helping to clean the
building and organize all of the equipment. He helped organize the
fire jackets and helmets and helped wash the fire trucks. Devon
believes his biggest impact came from showing appreciation and
respect to the firefighters than it was doing the cleaning.
RELAY FOR LIFE
Kayla gathered a group of friends and students from her school
in order to participate in her community’s Relay for Life which is
a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. In order to raise
money for the event, Kayla and her team held a candy sale at
their school ahead of time and during the event, they held a
bake sale. All together, Kayla’s group raised about $1,595 for
the American Cancer Society!
ADOPT A FAMILY
Briana is involved in her schools student government, so for her
service project, Briana gained the support of the student
government to participate in a program called, “Adopt a Family.”
This program allows underprivileged families from her school to
receive gifts and donations for the holidays that they would not
otherwise be able to afford. Briana feels that this program was a
good choice for the student government to support because it
helps families at their own school.
CADET BASIC SEARCH AND RESCUE
Cameron serves as a
Cadet Basic, so he was
presented with a
special opportunity to
volunteer alongside the
Civil Air Patrol. During
his volunteer time, he
was able to help out
with search and rescue
missions to find lost
airplanes or sinking
boats. During his time of
service, Cameron was
promoted from Cadet
Basic to Cadet Staff
Sergeant.
FIREHOUSE VOLUNTEER
Devon participated in his towns Fire Rescue by helping to clean the
building and organize all of the equipment. He helped organize the
fire jackets and helmets and helped wash the fire trucks. Devon
believes his biggest impact came from showing appreciation and
respect to the firefighters than it was doing the cleaning.
INFORMATION DESK VOLUNTEER
Mackenzie completed her service project through volunteering
at the Information Desk at her local hospital. At first, Mackenzie
answered and directed visitor phone calls, but soon she was
given more responsibility. She started delivering lab results and
transferring patients around the hospital. She also got to help
discharge patients from the hospital when they were fully
recovered. This was an especially beneficial way to Mackenzie
to volunteer because she hopes to pursue a career in
healthcare in the future.
ANTI-BULLYING CAMPAIGN
Tamara knows how harmful and toxic
bullying can be both personally and for
a whole school. This is why she decided
to start a Twitter account that
encourages the students at her school
to be positive role models and friends to
each other and to decrease bullying.
Tamara knows that cyber bullying, in
particular, is something many young
people struggle with. This is why she
thought it would be especially powerful
to have a positive social media
presence for her school. The longer the
account is active, the more followers she
hopes to gain.
KEEP THE PARK
Jason heard about a park in
his community that officials
were considering shutting
down. For his service project,
Jason acted as community
advocate, educating
community members about
the park community officials
wanted to close. He gained
support for community
members and had a group
accompany him to the district
office where they were able to
convince officials not to knock
down their park.
BILINGUAL HOSPITAL VOLUNTEER
Rosa wanted to complete her service project by volunteering
at a local hospital. At first, she was just helping out at the front
desk but she soon realized that the hospital staff could use
one of her very important skills. Rosa is bilingual, so she helped
hospital staff communicate with patients which resulted in her
being able to spend some one-on-one time with patients.
Rosa made a big impact on the patients she visited and on
the staff whom benefited from her ability to communicate
more effectively which patients.
THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME
Katie was able to complete
her service project with the
help of her church. When
Katie learned that many
people at her church were
struggling financially, she knew
she waned to do something to
help. Members of her church
helped her fundraise money in
order to take a few of the kids
to Disney World. The fundraiser
was successful and Katie
recalls never seeing kids smile
so much in her life.