Read full story on AOL > http://www.bvonmoney.com/2011/02/17/urban-prep-academy-gets-100-black-male-college-attendance-ag/

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Dec. 21, 2010) An electronic “Civil Debate Wall”, social media, an innovative online curriculum and a “citizenship fellows”program are new ways that The Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida will use to encourage civic commitment among University of Florida students. Top researchers will evaluate the pioneering approaches and share the information with other universities across the nation.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which promotes informed and engaged communities, is supporting the initiative with a $3 million grant. The grant is the largest ever received by the Bob Graham Center.

“Knight Foundation promotes programs that inform and engage citizens.  We think that is key to sustaining democracy,”said Alberto Ibargüen, the foundation’s president and CEO. “It isn’t enough to simply bring back civic education.  We should be open to new approaches that foster civic engagement, especially ones that use digital technology. The Bob Graham Center is an ideal laboratory for testing and studying new ways of strengthening the civic fabric of our society.”

“This wonderful grant from the Knight Foundation will allow us to launch some very novel programs in areas like social media and interactive online experiences that will greatly expand our reach,”said former Senator Bob Graham. “We believe these ideas can spread to other campuses and create an exciting new generation of student leaders, citizen activists, who will go out and spur changes in their communities at the local, state and national level. “

“There is so much information that inundates students and leaders every day,”Graham continued. “The skill we at the Bob Graham Center need to develop in our citizens and leaders is how to assess that information, and act on it. This important grant from the Knight Foundation will help us create programs to develop that next generation of citizen activist and leaders in both the civic and public sectors.”

“The Bob Graham Center forms a central component of our university’s effort to produce our state’s future leaders,”added Bernard Machen, president of the University of Florida. “We’re grateful to Knight Foundation for supporting groundbreaking work in new media and civic engagement among young people.”

The initiative will create:

• Knight Effective Citizenship Fellows, who will do research to develop best practices in encouraging a lifelong civic engagement;
• A high-tech “Civil Debate Wall”that will allow students to instantly engage in debate and conversation on issues. The wall will anchor a series of interactive kiosks both on and off campus that will poll students on their views, and present them with opposing opinions on issues.
• An interactive, online course called “Rethinking Citizenship”that will teach students civic engagement on the local, state and national levels. The curriculum will be reviewed by a panel of experts and scholars.
• A series of live forums and panel discussions that will use live streaming, multi-media imagery and social media tools to link students and scholars in public policy discussions around the world.

Civic health is a pressing issue in Florida. The National Conference on Citizenship has ranked the state 34th nationally in average voter turnout, 48th in public meeting attendance and 49th in volunteering – making it one of the weakest civic cultures in the nation.

The Bob Graham Center’s central mission is to reverse these dire trends. Former Florida Gov. Bob Graham, who also served three terms in the U.S. Senate, created the Center and has been active in pushing for curriculum reforms in civics education. He is the author most recently of “America: The Owner’s Manual: Making Government Work for You,”which details his approach to using detailed case studies of citizen-led campaigns to teach students the “nuts-and-bolts of democracy.”

About the Bob Graham Center for Public Service

The Bob Graham Center for Public Service is a community of students, scholars and politically engaged citizens, devoted to enhanced citizenship; the training of current and future public and civic leaders who can identify problems and spearhead change; and the development of policy on issues of importance to Florida, the United States and the global community.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote informed and engaged communities and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

Contact: Marc Fest, Vice President of Communications, Knight Foundation

305-908-2677

fest@knightfoundation.org

We are proud to have the support of principal George Maxey.  He is destined to restore the rich tradition and kinship that once catapulted Raines to national status. But he will need the support of alumni who formerly attended this historic institution. To recommend a child in middle or high school for the Duval Urban Debate Summer Camp at Raines from August 2nd – 6th, click here.

Principal George Maxey talks about the important of academic performance with middle school novice debaters.

Click below to review scenes from DUDL’s debate competition in February at William M. Raines High.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannonel/sets/72157623476860572/with/4331357292/

The DUDL, along with Harvard Debate, PlanetDebate.com, and Damien High School members, will be among the very first high school associations to be included in our beta period of content development, which will allow members to post public and private content. The latter will likely be the most ideal for academic purposes, but the full breadth of the platform is available to you and your students during our beta at no cost whatsoever. Beginning next week, privacy will be implemented within the Ask & Answer feature, and instructors and students will be able to conduct highly effective online video forums similar to the sample video forum images that are attached, as well as Head To Head debates .

This will be a wonderful opportunity for us to engage our Great Debaters in a virtual learning experience that is safe, secure, and specific to the rigorous academic instruction we are committed to providing.

To a brief moment to register your profile on Debatehall.com.

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On behalf of the 100 Black Men of Jacksonville and the Duval Urban Debate League we invite Paxon Middle School to participate in the Infinite Scholar College Fair at Hyatt Hotel Downtown Jacksonville. The event will begin this Saturday, January 16th from 9:00am-1:00pm.

We request the attendance of 2-4 debaters to engage in a .45 minute forum, beginning at 11am-11:30am, with several high school students and community leaders to address the importance of staying in school for college graduation.

Please send the attached information slip home with each debater with final names provided by Friday, January 15th.  Parents will be required to bring their students before 10:30am to Hyatt Hotel Downtown Jacksonville and remain their with them until the end of the workshop at 11:30am.

The figure on real poverty in America is far worse than the Census Bureau recently reported. It found that nearly 40 million Americans are living in official poverty (less than $22,000 for a family of four). This is an 11-year high.

The Bureau figure does not take into account the number of persons tossed into poverty in the past year, the worst year so far of the recession. It also undercounts real unemployment. Officially, nearly 10 percent of Americans are unemployed. Economists say that if seasonal and discouraged workers are counted the real unemployment figure exceeds 16 percent. As always, blacks and Hispanics have by far the highest poverty rate.

Despite the massive economic hardship, “poverty” is still a dirty word. Politicians, much of the media and the public have largely ignored the crisis.

Click here for the full article >

In 2008, students who did not currently have a Youth In Government program available to them through their YMCA or school were invited to be a part of our Student Ambassador Program.

Beginning with our Jr. Assembly, individual middle school students were allowed to take part in the process so that they could return home and start a YIG chapter of their very own.  We have been overwhelmed with the response, and are excited to keep the program going.

Jr. Student Ambassadors are invited to represent their school and community at our annual Jr. Assembly in May of each year.

Select 8th grade students may also attend our high school State Assembly as a Page delegate.  The high school  held in spring of each year and hosted in Tallahassee in our state’s Capitol buildings.

Read more > http://www.floridayig.net/index.php?pageid=JY-StudAmb

THREE Singaporean students are the talk of the town after placing third at the prestigious World Schools Debating Championships held in Greece last month.

Asia One >