August 30, 2006

LANSING –First Gentleman Daniel G. Mulhern today announced that two grants totaling more than $2.1 million have been awarded to provide greater opportunity for disadvantaged youth to have mentors, participate in service-learning activities, and get exposure to higher education.  The grants were awarded by Learn and Serve America to the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC) and Michigan Campus Compact (MCC).
 
“Many disadvantaged children in Michigan will be mentored and be exposed to higher education possibilities as the result of these grants,” said Mulhern, chair of the Michigan Community Service Commission.  “They will have strong role models in their lives to help them with everyday issues.  Many will have the added benefit of being exposed to college and university campuses for the first time in their lives.  We hope more of these youth will begin to believe that higher education is possible for them.”

The MCSC program, which is a partnership with Michigan State University Extension, will receive $1,019,250 to promote peer mentoring.  Peer mentoring differs from traditional mentoring because it involves older children mentoring younger children.  This type of mentoring will increase the development of young mentors in the areas of social development, citizenship, and leadership while they provide younger students with a stable role model.

The MCC program, which is a partnership with Mentor Michigan, will receive $1,141,017 to recruit college students to serve as mentors to disadvantaged youth in their community.  It is also an investment in the future of the mentees by reinforcing the merits of higher education to the youth.

“Every one of us wants the children of Michigan to grow into skilled, aware, and responsible adults,” said Amy Smitter, director of Michigan Campus Compact.  “Service-learning engages students in problem-solving, reflection, decision making, and reasoning, while also increasing the youths’ personal and social responsibility.”

Both grants issued by Learn and Serve America will be used over a three-year period for service-learning.  Service-learning is a type of instruction that connects meaningful service to the community with children’s learning activities.  This innovative teaching method supports the Michigan Department of Education’s goal of supporting individualized learning, real-world experiences, and higher standards for learning.  

The programs are slated to begin in late 2006.

Learn and Serve America provides support to schools, higher education institutions and community-based organizations that engage students, their teachers, and others on service-learning.

In addition to serving as chair of the MCSC, Mulhern also heads Mentor Michigan, a statewide initiative working to ensure that all youth who need mentors have high-quality mentoring experiences.  Under his leadership, Mentor Michigan is serving 30,000 mentees and working with more than 250 mentoring programs throughout the state to recruit, retain, and reward mentors.

For more information on the programs visit: Learn and Serve America at www.cns.gov/about/programs/learnandserve.asp; the Michigan Community Service Commission at www.michigan.gov/mcsc; or Michigan Campus Compact at www.micampuscompact.org.