Organization:

Young Guru Academy

Name of Project:

Read-Think-Share

Grant Amount:

8,145 YTL

Website:

www.youngguruacademy.org

Brief Description of Organization:

YGA serves as a catalyst to encourage future leaders to deepen, enrich and inspire their collective creativity and unleash their social innovative potential. With that purpose, YGA selects, educates, trains and inspires creative innovative and socially responsible Turkish Leaders. Read More.

Primary Purpose of the Project:

YGA builds Creative Libraries in disadvantaged public elementary schools to educate youth to become socially responsible leaders. This project aims to inspire youth to become socially responsible leaders through creating a medium for them to read, think creatively, write their ideas and share their thoughts with their peers.  The project works uniquely in the sense that the students are not only encouraged to read but to think about what they read and about how they can integrate what they have read into their real lives.

Needs that will be addressed:

There are gaps between the quality of the exposure and knowledge that youth gain through more traditional training and education that most receive. To fill the gap of training, exposure and knowledge in expected leadership behaviour, a program to educate and train the leaders of tomorrow is needed in the form of a unique 'life-changing experience' for youth who will one day become leaders in society. With this perspective, this project was developed by 2005 YGA graduates to empower the youth in disadvantaged public elementary schools in Turkey, and educate the youth in leadrship development skills.

Population Targeted: Disadvantaged Youth

Core Project Activities:

Building Creative Libraries Since 2006 every year 12 students are selected from 6th and 7th grades  to be educated by  YGA graduates on Leadership development skills, creative writing, reading, and social project implementation skills  in the Creative Libraries built at the elementary schools.

Additional Project Activities:

1.     Selection and purchasing of the books to be read. 

2.     Selection of  YGA moderators among university students.

3.     Preparation of the Read-Think-Share book where the left side is filled with inspirational quotes and the right side is left empty for children to write their own stories and inspirational quotes.

4.     Read-Think-Share Moderators to be educated by YGA.  

5.     Selection of 12 students by participating schools' Principals.  

Area-focus:  Youth Leadership Development

Staff: Volunteer Ratio: All volunteers

Targeted Outcomes:

• On January 10 of 2008, a protocol was signed between the Ministry of Education of Turkey and YGA to implement the Read-Think-Share program in all the disadvantaged public elementary schools in Turkey as a curriculum.

Tangible Outcome:

• Building a creative library in 30 Agustos Elementary School in Izmir.