During our trip to Southern Utah earlier this month, we enjoyed the ATV trails in our Yamaha Rhino. We had it outfitted with a rumble seat and seat belts in the back, so all four of us could ride in the same ATV.

And look at what you get to see when you visit the “Backways” of Utah!

We discovered this herd of antelope just outside of Bryce Canyon on the ATV trail system near Ruby’s Inn.

Beautiful, aren’t they?

Southern Utah Series:
Bryce Canyon
ATV and Antelope
Zion National Park
Zion Canyon Family Adventure, Part II
ATV Trails
Mesa Verde, Colorado
Grand Canyon, Arizona

For my 40th birthday earlier this month, our family traveled to Southern Utah to visit some of the natural wonders in Utah. We decided to bring our ATV along, since we were driving anyway, and we’d have a chance to take advantage of the thousands of miles of ATV trails in Utah. It was a trip to remember!

Here is our rig near the entrance to Bryce Canyon. It was early in April, and the area had just received a foot of snow in the mountains, but in the valleys it was clear. We needed a range of clothing for the trip because in the morning at our mountain cabin it would remain below freezing, but some of the afternoons in the valleys were in the 70’s. Layers were key.

Bryce Canyon is a beautiful stop, and a simple trip with a vehicle. We didn’t hike into the canyon, but we could have. Instead we opted to use the ATV in the trails surrounding Bryce. I’ll post more photos of that later this week!

We witnessed people walking on the white rock above and it gave me the willies to think about climbing up there with no railing and a 300-foot drop. Craig wanted to follow them and we said, “No way!”

We visited the canyon mid-day, but by judging the colors in the rock, it would be an amazing site at sunset. Stay tuned for more photos of our adventures in Utah!

Southern Utah Series:
Bryce Canyon
ATV and Antelope
Zion National Park
Zion Canyon Family Adventure, Part II
ATV Trails
Mesa Verde, Colorado
Grand Canyon, Arizona

I’m a real fan of youth service and dedicated a whole chapter to it in my book. Since writing this month’s Positively Speaking column, I’ve read about many outstanding projects initiated and implemented by young people throughout the world for Global Youth Service Day. My daughter posted her literacy project on a map at the Global Youth Service Day website, and so can you!

One of our community’s service projects:
Fourth- and fifth-grade youth leaders are teaming with high school students to paint game templates on the blacktop. It’s been a very involved process, meeting weekly to discuss which games will work the best and fit in the space we have.

After the games are painted on the blacktop, the 4th and 5th grade youth leaders will partner with the physical education teacher to teach the games to the younger students. It’s all a part of the Peaceful Playgrounds curriculum.

What a fun and worthwhile project!

Now here’s your chance to share your own community’s youth service projects. Please share what your community’s young people are doing for Global Youth Service Day projects. We’d love to get new ideas for next year. Just describe the project here in comments, or leave your link. Be sure to mention the ages of the young people involved in the service.

Thanks for spreading the word about this outstanding global initiative!

Positively Speaking has been published for April, and focuses on Global Youth Service Day, which happens the end of the month.

Please visit 5 Minutes for Mom to find out about the many ways young people are serving in their communities for this world-wide event. I’m hosting a carnival where you can share the youth service projects you’re doing or witnessing in your communities.

Please click over to the GYSD carnival and share your community service event!

You may also be interested in these recent articles related to youth empowerment:

* How to Start Your Own Kids’ Book Club – the series my sixth-grade daughter has been writing for the past two months, as a Youth Leader for Literacy

* Book Review for Empowering Youth — written by Laura Smith, Community Coordinator for the Snoqualmie Valley Community Network

* Book Review for Empowering Youth — written by Jennifer Donovan at 5 Minutes for Books

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***GUEST SERIES BY SIXTH-GRADE DARLA***

Begin the “Start a Book Club” series here.

Although it doesn’t have to cost a lot, money can help your bookclub be more successful. Even a small corporate sponsorship can go a long way toward making your book club work. To give you an idea, here’s the request for funding that I wrote to my mom’s company.

Get creative! You can also ask for donations of activity materials, books or snacks from local stores. And my library has doubled since getting the word out to family members and neighbors. Just figure out what your book club really needs, and let people know. Adults often ask me how they can help, and it’s a lot easier to ask for quality items they might donate to GoodWill anyway.

We also receive a small, but regular funding from the affiliate income earned by purchases made from this Amazon search box. The money we use mostly goes toward the purchase of treats, activity materials and prizes. Here are some suggestions – but your situation will vary greatly, depending upon the resources in your community and neighborhood.

FUNDING SOURCE IDEAS:
• Two of my friends sponsored a dog wash and earned $9 to put toward materials and supplies.

• Encourage neighbor support by setting up a BookWorm Wednesday table at garage sales. All proceeds from one table can go to support the project.

• Ask for a grant from a sponsor, consider local businesses or sending fliers to neighbors.

• Include “wish list” items on the bottom of the fliers you give to participants.

• Mention “needed items” if you have the opportunity to be interviewed for a newspaper article. But be specific. You might get more than you bargained for!

• I make my money by receiving earnings from the Amazon links on this blog.

• I suggest buying prizes and crafts from Oriental trading, but don’t buy candy prizes there! It is cheaper at the grocery store.

I hope this series will get you started on a path toward hosting your own neighborhood book club! Please come back here and share your experience. I’d love to hear from you!!

Next week, we’ll ask readers to share what’s happening in their communities on Global Youth Service Day — the weekend of April 24-26. Please join us next week, by describing your project, or linking to your story. Thank you!

How to Start a Kid’s Book Club series:
Read Across America – Youth Leader for Literacy Project
How to Start Your Own BookWorm Wednesday
Adult Mentor
Book Selection
Activities
Safety
Marketing
Management
Teamwork
Money

Thank you for reading this series, a part of Read Across America, sponsored by NEA and Youth Service America. Darla is one of the select few youth named 2009 Youth Leaders for Literacy.