ClassroomCorps
••• Participation, Partnership, emPowerment, Pride - in America
Today, the United States faces many challenges. Unpopular policies of the previous administration, coupled with the many tough issues we face in today's world have created a situation that calls for change, sacrifice and out-of-the-box thinking, a call to action that translates "challenge" into opportunity.
Ultimately, the keys to long-term improvement in America lie with it's youth .. the lifeblood of our nation. At Los Angeles Community Policing, the world's largest grassroots "community policing" non-profit effort, now in it's seventh year, we've stressed the need for active community participation in purposeful self-determination.
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Now, with ClassroomCorps, we seek to include our youth in the partnerships between government, law enforcement, neighborhood improvement programs, environmental causes and other quality of life efforts, all of which require education, participation, sacrifice and service.
We understand our mission as not simply involving our nation's safely and security but also as a call for significant social improvement, because we define the use of the term "police" (with a small "p") as meaning "to leave something better off than one found it."
And each generation has a mandate to do this ..
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Our www.LACP.org website, now over 1600 pages, is filled with articles and issues that are twofold. On the one side we encourage the community member to come forward, to volunteer and participate in local issues, and on the other we implore the powers that be (at City Hall, in Sacramento and Washington, DC) to allow them! And we ask for the minimal support that's needed to create volunteer service opportunities .. and to sustain them.
••• A three tiered plan
ClassroomCorps will provide an Internet based service to assist teachers, youth activity coordinators and parents, with suggested online projects, links to useful resources and may even provide downloadable supplies.
For too long, we believe, young Americans (perhaps for as much as two generations) have been "under-challenged" to understand their role in becoming, and being, a good citizen.
It's time to change all that ..
In three basic tiers, one for pre-school and early grade school, one for later grade school and one for middle school, LACP's ClassroomCorps will present age specific educational programs, workshops and demonstrations and community activities that are designed to teach and engage American youth, using the Federal Government's Department of Education Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2007-12.
All of this is in following the new administration's lead ..
| from the Barack Obama campaign: |
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The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation's challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps.
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| Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start. |
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This is music to our ears, as the Obama Administration is now saying what we at LA Community Policing have been preaching for years .. that our American birth rights, as wonderful as they are, are not "automatic" .. that they come with responsibilities to service and sacrifice .. that the experiment in human history we call "democracy" has to be consistently protected, shored up and improved .. that each of us should to play a role in "self-governance" and quality of life issues .. that every American has a way to give back, to volunteer their time, energy and experience .. that the community represents a mostly untapped resource of participants who can engage in meaningful partnerships to improve our nation .. that government, businesses and institutions need to help develop these partnerships, and supply minimal direction and support. |
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Not only should "no child be left behind" but EVERY CHILD INCLUDED!
While recent Department of Education Mission Statements understandably key on academic achievement (which in grade schools means the basic ability to read, write and do mathematics), too little attention has been paid to include "citizenship" topics .. to the social skills and sense of belonging and participation that is achieved when students are challenged to have a sense of self-pride.
And what of an early explanation of our American democracy, of citizenship's rights and responsibilities? |
| ClassroomCorps is then an adjunct, meant to instill a sense of community, of belonging, of ownership and responsibility .. all vital parts of what it means to be an American. |
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