9/11 Day of Service organizers launch comprehensive education resource for teachers, families and students nationwide
8/27/2010
Leading 9/11 organizations and the national service community announced today that they have joined together for the first time to offer a comprehensive educational resource, introduced for this year's 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, to help America's children learn about what happened on 9/11 and why, and to inspire students to annually pay tribute through their own voluntary expressions of charitable service. Nearly 4,000 teachers have already signed up for these materials, with an estimated 10,000 expected to utilize them this year, according to the 9/11 nonprofit MyGoodDeed, which worked to bring these influential organizations together to support the education program.
MyGoodDeed has worked with many organizations to provide materials and support, including the 4 Action Initiative (Families of September 11), the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the WTC Tribute Center, the September 11 Education Trust, Youth Service America, HandsOn Network, the Corporation for National and Community Service and Scholastic Inc.
The educational resources, available free of charge at www.911dayofservice.org, includes 18 different online lesson plans, videos and photos, and custom-developed guides to assist teachers and parents, including easy-to-follow tips to help students adopt charitable causes for the day and create service projects. In addition, more than 30,000 printed activity posters, which include abbreviated lesson plans, are being distributed in the coming weeks to every middle school in the nation. The initial educational tools are geared for students between the 5th and 12th grades, but resources are available for almost every school age group.
"These tools will engage our nation's youth in service that engenders global understanding, and a greater appreciation for American resilience and spirit," said Patrick A. Corvington, the CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. "These values sown early in life and cultivated will help our children grow and contribute to a more caring and generous world."
The 9/11 National Day of Service initiative is led by a coalition of organizations that includes MyGoodDeed, the Corporation for National and Community Service (Serve.gov), HandsOn Network (handsonnetwork.org), and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum (national911memorial.org) in New York. These organizations are also in the midst of planning for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in 2011, with the goal of organizing the largest expression of charitable service in U.S. history. Grant funding and significant in-kind support for the 9/11 National Day of Service in 2010 has been provided by GlaxoSmithKline, Target Corporation, the Corporation for National and Community Service, The Jim Fassel Foundation, The PIMCO Foundation, Clear Channel, Scholastic Inc., and Landor Associates.