I was talking to a friend the other day about how goofy the standards testing for kids in school is. I’ll try not to beat that horse too much here. I’m all for having formalized evaluation of performance. It’s good to know what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong. BUT it’s how you find that data that is really significant, and what you do with it that matters. We’re doing a pretty lousy job of both right now.

Teachers have the toughest job in the world. Period. This video is a great example of how totally complex this issue is – it’s more than just class size, teacher pay, and property taxes. Kids who are hungry aren’t going to learn as well as kids that are well fed.

The video was put out by Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America. Think about checking them out for xmas gifts this season. Not only do you get to donate to a good cause, but the gift cards are beautiful.

This isn’t just an emotional appeal though – check out their Share Our Strength’s Teacher’s Report for some indepth research into the issue, and what it’s going to take to solve the problem.

Thanks to @nextvoice247 for the link.

Mentees are matched with three different mentors throughout the year who coach them on a seasonal basis as skate mentors, surf mentors and snow mentors. Spending time together and attending classes, teens learn athletic skills as well as respect, trust, communication and goal setting. In addition to mentor-matching, Stoked offers an after school club that teaches career skills and college prep. Stoked Mentoring currently serves schools and communities in New York City and Los Angeles.

Ben Drummond and Sara Joy Steele

Ben Drummond and Sara Joy Steele

I discovered the brilliant Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele via the Grants 4 Change from Nau Clothing (both the grant and the clothes are totally worth checking out).

Their project is a called Facing Climate Change, and it’s a “long-term” documentary project.  They are addressing the climate change issue by – gasp – talking to people that are directly effected by it. They’ve told the stories of Reindeer Herders in norway, Galcier monitors in Iceland, and North Atlantic fisherman.

The photography is absolutely stunning. It’s narrative, complex and lively without overly romanticizing the lives of it’s subjects. Please take some time to absorb this – there’s a lot here. I’m coming back to watch the Snoqualmie Snowmakers tomorrow.

Invisible Children is my favorite kind of organization Created by three filmmakers in 2003, they use film to bring attention to the war in Northern Uganda. Lots of people head to africa and make documentaries. Don’t get me wrong, that’s good work and we want to encourage it. But these guys go a step further. The now tour the United States sharing their films and raising awareness.

“We are story tellers. We make documentaries about war-affected children in east Africa and tour them around the world.

We use the power of media to inspire young people to help end the longest running war in Africa. Our model has proven effective, and hundreds of thousands of people have been called to action through our films and the volunteers that tour them. “

That alone would be incredible, but they don’t stop there. They’ve leveraged their storytelling success to do on the ground development work. Working directly with a 95% Ugandan workforce, Invisible Children rebuilds schools, emptied mentors, provided 690 scholarships, and implemented a series of micro-economic initiatives.

The Visible Child Scholarship Program

The VCSP directly provides scholarships to 585 secondary and 180 university students in Uganda. It develops leadership and life skills. The program targets youth facing some daunting challenges. Special consideration is given to orphans, heads of household, kids living with HIV and aids, and child mothers.

Some stats from their website

Secondary Student Stats
• 45% of students are girls; 55% are boys
• 91% of students are orphans—44.9% being partial orphans and 46.1% beingtotal orphans
• 26.1% of students are orphans because of HIV/AIDS
• 23.9% of students are orphans due to war
• 5.5% of students are members of child-headed families
• 4.3% of students are child mothers
• 13.7% of students have been abducted by the LRA at least once *as of 2008

Schools For Schools

The Schools for Schools program is Invisible Children’s initiative to help develop education initiatives within Uganda. Schools in the united States raise money and compete for an opportunity to send a student to their sister school in Uganda. It’s more than just a simple exchange program. The money raised goes to some cutting edge technology and development strategies. From interlocking soil stabilizing blocks, to traumatic war counseling, the IC team has done a remarkable job taking development initiatives to the next level.

Check out their mission statement.

AVALON will:

• Create a content–rich curriculum with a global emphasis, stressing depth over breadth and drawing upon the passions and interests of its students.
• Build a school culture and set of core values centered on excellence and active citizenship.
• Focus on developing interpersonal, communication and learning skills to complement academic achievement.
• Draw upon the greater non–teacher community for mentors to help students identify their intellectual passions, develop their individual learning styles, teach real–life skills, offer apprenticeship opportunities, and pinpoint potential contributions to their community.
• Develop international and cross–cultural awareness and cooperation. This may include exchanges, correspondence and partnerships with schools in other countries, potentially including high schools abroad that share this focus.
• Develop leadership opportunities for all participants. All members of the school community will be involved in decision–making, and students will be given a real voice and stake in the school.