Wreaths Across America (WAA) has launched the 2023 Youth Service Project as part of its year-round TEACH program. The project will tie into the national nonprofit’s 2023 theme, “Serve and Succeed.”
The Youth Service Project encourages young people of all ages and grade levels to develop, organize and execute a community service project to improve the lives of veterans or others in their local community. By participating in, and successfully completing the Serve and Succeed project of their choosing, students will receive a certificate of community service award and commemorative bracelet from WAA. Each participant will be entered into a random drawing for the opportunity to visit the National Wreaths Across America Museum, Gold Star History and Hospitality House and the tip land monuments where replica dog tags from thousands of service men and women are hung in remembrance. The service project needs to be completed by Veterans Day, November 11, 2023.
Throughout the year, the WAA TEACH program provides educational opportunities for people nationwide to engage with veterans in their communities. In 2022, generous supporters made it possible for WAA to launch a K-12 curriculum that is aligned with the National Council on Social Studies and state Common Core standards. The free, downloadable lesson plans ensure stories of service, sacrifice and valor are passed down to future generations while building good character and self-worth through service to others. WAA also launched its first Youth Service Project in 2022, where students participated in an oral history project interviewing veterans. The contest winner, randomly selected from among the participants, was recently selected and will be publicly acknowledged at the organization’s annual Stem to Stone event held in Maine each summer.
“Teaching younger generations the value of freedom and the importance of honoring those who sacrificed is a core part of our mission, but we want our young people to know you do not have to be in the military to serve,” said Cindy Tatum, WAA TEACH Curriculum Developer and Gold Star Mother. “The WAA 2023 Youth Service Project encourages America’s youth to create, develop, and execute a community service project that will benefit Veterans or others in their local community or the global community. No act of service is too small, and we look forward to the impactful projects students will submit.”
To learn more about the TEACH program and how to participate in the service project, visit http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/teach.
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