West Linn High School Global Awareness Take Action Club

• Attend events and programs
• Connect with local and global action organizations and groups
• Volunteer your time and skills
• Create Action Groups in your school, neighborhood, place of worship, home or workplace Join an international organization, such as the World Affairs Council
• Expand your knowledge by taking an internationally-focused class, learning a new language, organizing a WorldQuest team, or attending Great Decisions lectures
• Foster intercultural communications by hosting an international visitor, inviting a guest speaker, or exposing young people to global traditions
• Donate money or resources to international organizations
• Contact decision-makers and VOTE
• Involve and teach others along the way

The Council's From Awareness to Action! program, initiated in 2004 following Bono's International Speaker Series presentation, is designed to inspire Oregonians of all ages to engage directly in vital global issues. This year, From Awareness to Action! opportunities were included in both of the Council’s two state-wide K-12 education initiatives: the Teach Africa Youth Forum and World Quest Global Knowledge Competition.

In both cases, students were encouraged to develop an Action Plan for their school that would directly involve the student body in projects tackling global issues. Teach Africa Youth Forum delegates returned to their schools as ambassadors for international learning and action, creating multiple heartwarming projects such as "Soccer Balls for Somalia" at Ashland Middle School, a “Fundraising Feast for Africa” at Beaverton High School, an "Africa Awareness Week" at Sellwood Middle School.

WorldQuest Global Knowledge Competition participants gained five bonus points for reporting on action projects at their schools for our From Awareness to Action! Idea Exchange page, soon to be launched on the K-12 section of the Council’s website. It is our hope that this webpage will become a clearing house of resource for teachers and students, providing a chance to share their views and ideas about the world.

Last spring these middle and high school students were invited to apply for our first From Awareness to Action! grants by creating a power point presentation or writing a brief report telling how they would use this grant to further their Action Plan goals. In June we awarded our first $500 grants to Beaverton High School, Trillium Charter School, West Linn High School, and West Salem High School to support the following projects:

• Beaverton High School’s Global Awareness to Action (GATA) program: Working with Westview High School, students will use the grant to cover half the cost of shipping over 1000 textbooks to their sister school, the Kwakyai Primary School, in Kibwezi, Kenya. Money raised in their “Fast for Africa” will cover the rest of the costs. Read the grant application.
  


• Trillium Charter School’s Kids for Kenya program: Trillium students will use their grant help their sister school, Humble Hearts, in Nairobi, Kenya, to start a sustainable business. The money will purchase a sewing machine and enough material and supplies to create reusable feminine hygiene products for 100 girls, who are not able to attend school when they begin to menstruate. Read the grant application.


• West Linn High School’s Global Awareness to Action (GATA) program: GATA was the first From Awareness to Action! organization to be founded following Bono’s visit. The will use their grant for a major fundraiser in the fall to benefit their sister school, Namwela Secondary School, in Chwele, Kenya. Their goal is to raise enough money to bring electricity to the school and support exchanges between the schools.


• West Salem High School’s Students for Change program: This highly motivated group of students has given many presentations to educate schools and community groups in their area about the lack of clean drinking water on the planet and the plight of the victims of this disaster. This grant and other money that they have raised will be used to purchase LifeStraws for people in the Congo region of Africa. LifeStraws filter 99%of the bacteria and 95% of the viruses out of the water. Read the grant application.

From Awareness to Action! grants are an offering of the K-12 Education Program. The purposes of these grants are to assist students in begining a new global service action project and/or to expand an already existing one.