Have you thought of reaching out to youth in your community?  Energize your volunteer group by seeking youth membership?  Provide meaningful service opportunities to youth through service-learning?  The Commission can help you develop youth leadership through Project FLOW.

The Commission was awarded in the summer of 2006 a grant for Project FLOW—Future Leaders of Watersheds (FLOW) by Learn and Serve America.  The three year project funds youth led watershed service-learning activities in community based organizations.  The project aims to have youth and other volunteers understand their place in the watershed and how their actions impact water.  The second round of funding for Project FLOW will begin April 16, 2007.  Application forms are due June 1, 2007.

Service Learning is a teaching strategy that combines students classroom learning with an opportunity to make a difference in the community through meaningful action.  Recent studies have found that involving youth in the community through service-learning improves youth academic achievement, civic behaviors and personal skills. (2006 Issue Brief: The Impact of Service-Learning—A Review of Current Research; Corporation for National and Community Service; Washington, D.C)

During the first year, nine grantees provided service opportunities to nearly 1,200 youth who provided more than 11,000 hours of service to their communities. FLOW projects have included stream sampling and monitoring, native plant collection and dispersal, wetland restoration, planting rain gardens and removing trash.

For more information, please contact:

Sherry Swint
Project FLOW Program Coordinator
West Virginia Commission for National & Community Service
(800) WV-HELPS
(304) 957-4308