Kansas' Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected in 15th Annual National Awards Program

Lindsey Curtis, 17, of Manhattan and Alex Stonebarger, 13, of Leawood today were named Kansas' top two youth volunteers for 2010 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 15th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).

Lindsey was nominated by Manhattan High School in Manhattan, and Alex was nominated by Mission Valley Middle School in Prairie Village. As State Honorees, each will receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and an all-expense-paid trip in early May to Washington, D.C., where they will join the top two honorees from each of the other states and the District of Columbia for several days of national recognition events. Ten of them will be named America’s top youth volunteers for 2010 at that time.

Lindsey, a senior at Manhattan High School, spent nearly a month last June helping to care for 55 abandoned children at an orphanage in Uganda. “I’ve always wanted to serve others somewhere in a third-world country,” said Lindsey. So, together with a friend who shared her passion, Lindsey earned and saved money for 10 months to pay for a trip to Jinja, Uganda, and landed at the Amani Baby Cottage.

From 8:00 a.m. until bedtime, Lindsey was directly responsible for 11 babies from 8 to 16 months old. She got them up in the morning; bathed, fed, and dressed them; changed their diapers; played with them; took them on outings; and got them ready for bed at night. She also helped care for the older kids at the orphanage. After three-and-a-half weeks of playing mother to the children, Lindsey returned home to begin collecting clothes, books, and shoes to send back to the orphanage. She vows to return to Uganda as soon as she can so that she can continue to support those who have so little. “I got the opportunity to serve and love those who needed it most, and in return, I learned the true meaning of unconditional love,” she said.

Alex, an eighth-grader at Mission Valley Middle School, founded a youth volunteer organization that has raised $3,500 for animal charities by making and selling pet toys and leashes from recycled materials. “I have always loved animals and I feel strongly about helping the environment, so I combined the two ideas and created pet toys made from recycled building materials, used clothing, and other discarded fabric,” said Alex.

She started her project, called “Fetching Dreams,” after discovering that she was too young to volunteer at an animal shelter. So instead, Alex designed pet-safe toys based on her experience with her own dog, and recruited and trained school groups, Girl Scouts, youth groups, and community volunteers to help her make the toys and leashes, which were then sold at festivals, art fairs, animal shows, and other local events. The proceeds, as well as donations solicited through her website (www.fetchingdreams.webs.com), go to the Humane Society of Kansas City, a no-kill shelter, and the Rolling Dog Ranch in Montana, a sanctuary for disabled animals. “I never realized that the world is willing to support a middle-school student and help me achieve my goals,” said Alex.

In addition, the program judges recognized four other Kansas students as Distinguished Finalists for their impressive community service activities. Each will receive an engraved bronze medallion:

Sarah Are, 17, of Leawood, a senior at Shawnee Mission East High School in Shawnee Mission, co-founded a school club called “Coalition” that sponsors eight fund-raising and awareness events a year for a variety of important causes. Sarah plans the group’s weekly meetings and oversees the development of two big events each quarter, which have included fund-raising walks, bake sales, a dance marathon, and a benefit concert.

Lauren Potts, 17, of Lawrence, a senior at Lawrence Free State High School, helped create a service learning class as an elective at her high school to encourage lifelong volunteerism and to focus social consciousness on local issues. Lauren, who is also a student leader in her school’s Social Awareness Club, worked with an advisor to brainstorm ideas, research successful service learning programs, develop a curriculum, and find community organizations where students could apply what they learn in class.

Jenna Rangel, 16, of Newton, a sophomore at Newton High School, developed a program of practical self-defense techniques for girls and young women. She has presented her “Girl2Girl Self Defense” program free of charge to nearly 1,000 girls and young women in Girl Scout troops, church groups, Rotary clubs, and at an air force base and a statewide church summer camp.

Aniruddha Rao, 18, of Overland Park, a senior at Blue Valley Northwest High School, helped develop a performance known as “The Outrage” at his school to educate the community about teen-dating violence and domestic abuse. He and other members of The Outrage theatre troupe performed the play more than 50 times for over 10,000 people in one year.

REPORT GIVES KANSAS A GRADE OF 'D-' FOR POLICIES THAT IMPACT QUALITY OF TEACHERS

A new report by the not-for-profit, non-partisan National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) finds that Kansas's teacher policies largely work against the nation's goal of improving teacher quality. While the national focus on teacher quality has never been greater, the broad range of state laws, rules and regulations that govern the teaching profession too often impede rather than promote serious reform.

NCTQ's 2009 State Teacher Policy Yearbook examined state policy across five areas that include teacher preparation, evaluation, tenure and dismissal, alternative certification and compensation. Kansas earned the following grades, resulting in an overall grade of D-:

• Delivering Well Prepared Teachers: D+
• Expanding the Teaching Pool: F
• Identifying Effective New Teachers: D
• Retaining Effective New Teachers: C-
• Exiting Ineffective New Teachers: F

NCTQ President Kate Walsh said, "The release of the 2009 Yearbook comes at a particularly opportune time. Race to the Top, the $4.5 billion federal discretionary grant competition, has put unprecedented focus on education reform in general, and teacher quality in particular. We believe that the Yearbook provides a road map for achieving a Race to the Top grant, identifying where states are on the right track and where they have considerable work to do.

Walsh continued: “Unfortunately, states have tremendous ground to make up after years of policy neglect. There is much more Kansas can do to ensure that all children have the effective teachers they deserve."

Among the findings about Kansas:

• Kansas's evaluation and tenure policies do not consider what should count the most about teacher performance: classroom effectiveness. Kansas does not require any objective measures of student learning in teacher evaluations and does not require annual evaluations for all teachers. It also does not require that districts collect or consider any evidence of teacher effectiveness as part of tenure decisions.

• Kansas makes it too difficult for districts to attempt to dismiss poor performers by failing to articulate a policy for dismissing teachers for poor performance separate from dismissal policies for criminal and morality violations. Kansas also allows multiple appeals of dismissals.

• Although Kansas claims to offer an alternative route to certification, its burdensome requirements block talented individuals from entering the profession.

• Kansas's requirements for the preparation of elementary teachers do not ensure that these teachers are well prepared to teach reading or mathematics.

• Kansas fails to exercise appropriate oversight of its teacher preparation programs. The state allows programs to admit candidates without passing a basic skills test. It also fails to hold programs accountable for the quality of the teachers they produce.

• Kansas's pay and benefit policies for teachers—including the state-run retirement system—offer inadequate incentives to stay in teaching. The financial sustainability of the retirement system is also uncertain, based on the state's own report.

Despite these findings, Kansas has some bright spots, including its content requirements for the preparation of middle school teachers.