Ally Del Monte is a 10 year old who feels strongly about helping others. She has taken on many causes in the past, — Hurricane Relief, Alex’s Lemonade Stand, CROPWALK, and a Massai Schools in Kenya, Africa.

This year, her cause is animals, specifically dogs. Ally and her family usually foster special needs animals and provide hospice care for them, but they had to take a break. Not wanting to stop helping them, Ally wrote book about a Puppy Mill dog’s life, and hopes to sell the book and use the profits to help animals in need, and people with vet care costs. Ally’s book is called “Lilly’s Story”, written and illustrated by herself.

I was so happy her proud mom contacted me to tell me Ally’s story. They created a blog — Lilly’s Story — to spread the word.

From Ally’s Mom:

I am amazingly proud of Ally, not only is she a leader in an activist kind of way, but in her daily life. She feels strongly about standing up for what she believes in, be it bullying in school, littering at the park, or just being a nice person. She makes my heart sing! She leads by example, the best way possible to lead.

Ally is also in a contest to win $10,000 to help her realize her goal of making a pet rescues funding source to help rescues and people with their vet care costs during these tough economic times. The contest is won by votes, so the more people who vote for her, the closer she comes to winning!

You can vote for Ally here. Please, help spread the word!

It’s so inspiring to read about the efforts of young people like Ally. If you know an empowered young leader who is doing great things, please share his or her story!

Did you know May 5 is National Teacher Day? Here’s the perfect gift to help your child’s teacher celebrate!

Author and veteran teacher, Phillip Done, sent me a review copy of his joyful book, 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny. What a treat!

A teacher for more than 20 years, Done has many classroom experiences to draw from, but these chapters weave the story of his very first classroom – both the ups and downs — with humor and wisdom. From the madness of his first day after being hired late in the year, to those final weeks in spring, his hilarious anecdotes will leave both educators and non-educators laughing. The dialogue will sound familiar to anyone who connects with kids, and you’ll soon be retelling your own stories to those around you.

Here’s an excerpt most third-grade teachers could relate to:

Why, when there are 20,000 books in the library, do they just want I spy?

Why can’t kids tell me twelve minus nine, when they can figure out exactly how old I am in less than two seconds when i tell them the year I was born?

Why do my students just stare at me and say nothing when they run into me in the supermarket?

His humorous style also delivers a message, about the most important parts of teaching — so often the ones that don’t get measured on standardized tests. There’s no question after finishing this book, that the 32 students in his first classroom found a permanent place in this author’s heart.

If you’re looking for the perfect “thank you” gift for your child’s teacher, look no further! You’ll know you’ve hit the mark when you hear your child’s teacher laugh out-loud in response to the light-hearted retelling of situations he or she has certainly experienced.

For another fun book celebrating the first year of teaching, please check out Mr. Teacher’s, “Learn Me Good.”

The Obama stimulus package provides funding for school districts through numerous programs, including IDEA (special services) and Title 1 reading and math. Half of this one-time funding — which totals somewhere in the billions — was distributed in March and the rest will reach school districts in October.

SPARK Peer Tutoring is one method of utilizing youth as resources in our schools, so it’s a sustainable program, even with one-time funding. Districts can use stimulus funding to purchase the manual and then train middle school or high school youth to tutor younger or same-age students.

Here’s an article about the stimulus funding breakdown, if you’d like more information.

Here’s a description of SPARK:

The S.P.A.R.K. Peer Tutoring Handbook and Training Manual® is a field-tested curriculum “kit” designed to help high school and middle school peer tutors and advisors.

The lessons, discussions and activities make up a four-hour training curriculum that benefits both new and well-established peer tutoring programs. After completing the training, peer tutors are better prepared to handle the situations that they will face as they serve their school in a tutoring role.

The kit is a three ring binder that includes 55 pages of text, 12 overheads, reproducible forms, study skills brochures and activity card sets in an appealing, complete, easy to use manual.

The S.P.A.R.K. Peer Tutoring Handbook® was created by the advisor of a successful high school peer tutoring program and its design helps advisors support a strong peer tutoring program with minimal effort.

For more information, please visit http://www.empowering-youth.com/spark.html .

The S.P.A.R.K. Peer Tutoring Handbook and Training Manual® also received a professional review in the Peer Facilitator Quarterly, the official publication of the National Peer Helper’s Association. To read this review click here.

An excellent and efficient use of your stimulus package funding!

Positively Speaking has been published for May, and I revisit youth service, but in a way that’s easy to address as a mom or dad.

On Arbor Day our family planted trees, and we invited our kids’ friends to come along. Visit 5 Minutes for Mom to read more.

Another article you may be interested in:
SPARK Peer Tutoring – One Way Schools Can Use the Obama Stimulus Funding

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