CHARACTER BUILDING & SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Character isn’t what we think, it’s what we do. Here are some opportunities for students to apply the values we associate with good character. As Aristotle said, when we do good things we become good people.

CHARATCER COUNTS!
https://charactercounts.org/

Built on the foundation of the Six Pillars of Character, CHARACTER COUNTS! provides practical strategies, curricular resources, and trainings to positively impact your school system, community, youth-serving or people-helping organization. CHARACTER COUNTS! has demonstrated success as a stand-alone initiative or working in alignment with other programs such as PBIS to foster positive climate change to produce exceptional results in the academic, social and emotional, character development and school-climate domains.

Souperbowl of Caring
https://www.souperbowl.org

Souper Bowl of Caring is a national non-profit with the mission of transforming Super Bowl Weekend into the nation’s largest youth-led movement of giving and serving. We really like their approach to the idea of helping others.

Idealist.org – Kids & Teens
https://www.idealist.org/

If you’re young, curious, optimistic, seeking help, or looking to help others, Idealist is for you. Thinking about volunteering? Start your search here. Have an idea for changing your neighborhood, your school, or the world? Find resources, project ideas, and organizations that can help you get started. Have a problem that you need help solving? Find some help here. Teachers should explore the whole website.

Do Something
https://www.dosomething.org

These people take their name seriously. Their mission statement says: “We inspire young people to believe that change is possible, and we train, fund and mobilize them to be leaders who measurably strengthen their communities.” This is a very exciting website for anyone who wants to, well . . . do something.

WE (formerly, Free The Children)
https://www.we.org/

Want to wipe out child slavery? Want to help poor children in third world countries go to school instead of laboring every day in dangerous, inhumane jobs? Then join this international network of children helping children, founded by (then) twelve-year-old Craig Kielburger. You’ll be amazed at what you can do.

Feeding America (formerly, America’s Second Harvest)
https://www.feedingamerica.org/

Help end hunger. This is the largest hunger relief organization in the U.S. Their main activity is feeding hungry people by collecting and distributing food, and they could use your help. Come to this website to get involved, or even just to learn about hunger in America.

Habitat for Humanity
https://www.habitat.org/

Wanna build a house? Habitat for Humanity uses volunteer labor and donations of money and materials to build and rehabilitate simple, decent houses for low-income families. Thousands of students and young people worldwide are spending school breaks or weekends on Habitat construction sites. Here’s how you can join them.

Children’s International Summer Villages
https://www.cisv.org/

CISV is a volunteer organization promoting peace education and cross-cultural friendship. There are 67 participating nations. Local chapters offer lots of exciting opportunities for young people to get involved both locally and internationally.

VolunteerMatch
https://www.volunteermatch.org/

A fabulous website with lots of great information about volunteer work. Includes a powerful online database allowing individuals to find volunteer opportunities by zip code, category, and date.

Youth Service America (formerly, ServeNet)
https://ysa.org/

This site is a good place to start for web surfers looking for an opportunity to volunteer. It lets users search a database of service roles to find one that’s right. Click on “resources” for some great volunteer advice for people under 18.