Programs

Serve.Learn.Inspire. Classroom Engagement Program

This program focuses on “interactive learning” during highly collaborative classroom experiences. To ignite the classroom experience, PublicServiceNV Board members visit each classroom (in person or virtually) to introduce students to the PublicServiceNV programs. During this visit, students learn about why PublicServiceNV established these programs and how they, as youth, can self-direct their own civic engagement to enrich their communities and themselves.

After this initial visit, Faculty Champions facilitate the classroom presentation of three virtual Serve.Learn.Inspire. lessons that teach a new model of civic engagement. The lessons move the students through an invigorating 10-question activity that mirrors the Gratitude Awards Program. This ranges from selecting a community to serve to what skills each team member can contribute to their project to how to distribute donations in a team’s name. As a follow-up to the final lesson, PublicServiceNV honors the class by sending checks to the student-directed nonprofit, school, or both.

Gratitude Awards Program

For those students who are eager to “do” what they learned during the Serve.Learn.Inspire. classroom adventure, the Gratitude Awards Program provides them with this opportunity for real-world civic engagement. The Gratitude Awards Program honors Nevada youth for the projects that they create to benefit the communities they choose to serve. Students are recognized for their contributions in several ways, including:

• Award Certificates. **
• Acknowledgment on PublicServiceNV.org.
• Recognition in the Gratitude Awards Digest, which describes the projects and the student recipients. The Digest is posted on PublicServiceNV.org, as well as distributed to key education leaders: School Board Trustees and key Administrators, Principals, Faculty Champions, Public Education Foundation, Vegas PBS, and others.
• Monetary donations to a school, a nonprofit, or both, in the name of each team (team members’ names listed individually), as directed by the team.

After evaluating the submissions to determine award recipients, PublicServiceNV and Faculty Champions plan a Gratitude Awards event at their school. This allows the students, their families, their classmates, Faculty Champions, Principals, and donation recipients to share the experience and impact of what these students have accomplished.

** Students who successfully complete the Submission process, though they do not receive a Gratitude Award, are recognized with a PublicServiceNV “Certificate of Contribution” and honored during an event at their school.

“Creating a project that would help our schoolmates, which could be one of our very own friends, brings satisfaction to us knowing that we could help our school and community.”

Team Leader, Las Vegas High School, 2016-2017

“Growing up in Las Vegas, I was surrounded by hunger and homelessness, from inside my family to the girl who sat next to me in fourth grade. When I was younger, we had to receive help from a food pantry. For these reasons, it was easy to dedicate my project to help feed low-income families on Thanksgiving Day.”

Individual, Leaders in Training, 2017-2018

Categories And Goals

• Statement of need for the project.
• How does this project serve the needs of animals and help improve their lives?
• How does this project elevate the life of the person(s) performing the kind acts towards the animals?
• How does this project confirm the benefits of compassion and motivate others to offer a hand of support to animals in their communities?
• What is the most significant positive impact or outcome of this project?

• Statement of need for the project.
• How does this project help students provide opportunities to improve educational outcomes?
• How does this project help students benefit academically in high school and beyond?
• How does this project provide students with additional skills for success?
• What is the most significant positive impact or outcome of this project?

• Statement of need for the project.
• How does this project provide opportunities for young people, their families, and their community to thrive in healthy ways?
• How does this project help people access healthy services and resources?
• How does this project inspire young people, their families, or communities to sustain healthier life choices?
• What is the most significant positive impact or outcome of this project?

• Statement of need for the project.
• How does this project serve the needs of others and help improve their lives?
• How does this project elevate the life of the person(s) performing the kind acts?
• How does this project confirm the benefits of compassion and motivate others to offer a hand of support to people in their communities?
• What is the most significant positive impact or outcome of this project?

• Statement of need for the project.
• How does this project allow people within a community to feel safe and protected from the risk of discrimination, threat, or injury?
• How does this project motivate people to engage in conversations and activities to preserve safety and/or justice in a community?
• How does this project provide responsible alternatives, support, or assistance to people challenged by illegal events or circumstances?
• What is the most significant positive impact or outcome of this project?

• Animal Welfare: “It’s an amazing feeling knowing that we helped more than 100 animals and knowing that they feel comfortable, where they are being sheltered, and not suffering from not having anything.”
• Education: “By initiating this project, I realized that I must be thankful for what I have accomplished through my own high school career.”
• Health and Wellness: “We spent lots of time together, coming up with ideas and sharing our knowledge of the community that strengthened our beliefs and perspectives on learning.”
• Human Kindness: “This project meant that families can be reminded that they are not alone.”
• Public Safety and Justice: “We gave our community a voice, which will be spread so that something can be done.”

Serve.Learn.Inspire. Community Engagement Program

PublicServiceNV’s newest program involves Community Champions at local nonprofit organizations. These “community engagement” leaders facilitate the 10 lessons in the Serve.Learn.Inspire. curriculum binder, which includes lessons, personal and team activities, and supplemental take-away materials. At the end of the 10 lessons, PublicServiceNV honors the participating community program group/cohort at a recognition event at the organization’s site. During this event, the organization’s youth present donation checks to a school, nonprofit, or both in their organization/cohort’s name. PublicServiceNV also provides each youth, who completes the 10-lesson program, with PublicServiceNV’s “Certificate of Completion.” The organization will also be mentioned on publicservicenv.org and in the annual Gratitude Awards Digest.

“By doing this project, we learned a lot about different communities and how doing one small act can help so many. It’s an amazing feeling knowing that we helped more than 100 animals and knowing that they feel comfortable, where they are being sheltered, and not suffering from not having anything.”

Team Leader, Las Vegas Academy, 2018-2019

“Because school transportation is essential, we need to help families, who cannot transport their children to their schools. Our plan offers an additional and needed option for student transportation.”

Team Leader, Las Vegas Academy, 2019-2020