Seattle Program > Service > Local Service

Global Visionaries is committed to serving our local community. GV partners with local organizations in order to do provide outstanding experiences for our participants and so our participants can serve their community very effectively.

Students joining the program choose one local Work Team opportunity. GV participants gain a minimum of 32 community service hours. Between participants local and international Work Teams, participants gain the 60 hours of community service required to graduate from Seattle Public high schools.

• EarthCorps
• Internship Work Team
• Local Roots Work Team (you are what you eat)
• Youth Global Citizens Digital Story Telling Work Team
• Youth Venture Work Team: Dream It. Do it. Challenge!
• Website Work Team

EarthCorps

GV Participants collaborate regularly with EarthCorps as a Local Work Team. GV participants join EarthCorps volunteer projects at different parks in Seattle. EarthCorps staff works with GV participants in restoring our natural areas by freeing trees from ivy, planting native/non-invasive plants and trees and doing general site stewardship.

GV Participants who choose the EarthCorps Work Team volunteer for approximately six Saturdays (one/month over six months), restoring the greenspace and learning about local and global environmental issues with an emphasis on environmental justice. EarthCorps works with work teams that are comprised of diverse global community members. This past year, GV participants had the opportunity to work side by side with European, African, Asian and Latino EarthCorps volunteers.

This Local Work Team is a fun and fantastic way to meet people from all over the country and the world, enjoy the outdoors and see progress in the work you do from workday to workday.

About EarthCorps
EarthCorps is a local Seattle-based Non-Profit whose mission is to create a global community through local environmental service.
Visit Site

Internship Work Team

In the GV Internship, participants develop leadership and social action skills by collaborating with the Global Visionaries organization. Students volunteer directly with GV staff to support the organization and the program in order for the GV Leadership Program to be a success. Students on this Work Team will learn about the work options available to them in a general orientation for Internship participants.

Intern projects include:

• Organizing the GV Supply Drive: Students collect much needed school supplies for schools we have built and medical supplies for clinics and hospitals in Guatemala and take these supplies with them when they go. Interns coordinate collecting, sorting, boxing and inventorying the supplies.
• Procuring items for the GV Annual Auction: Students hit the streets, asking local businesses to donate products to auction off at GV's main fundraiser. Students help staff in the office with all the different aspects of organizing an auction.
• Providing office support: Students learn public relationship skills, organizational skills, how to make professional phone calls and write formal letters while supporting GV staff to run a great program.
• Networking and exchanging service hours for with our neighbor nonprofit, El Centro de la Raza.

GV interns select dates and times for their office shifts on a monthly basis. The minimum total hours for this Work Team over the year is 32; students are welcome to put in as many hours over 32 as they like.

GV interns select dates and times for their office shifts on a monthly basis up to 60 community-service hours.

Local Roots Work Team (you are what you eat)

This Work Team introduces GV participants to the local food system in the Seattle region and the broader concepts of sustainable agriculture.

Students learn about themes such as food security and access, farm and food heritage, health and nutrition (you are what you eat), and the broader environmental and social impacts of the food system while getting our hands dirty learning how to grow tasty food at the Local Roots Organic Farm in Carnation, WA.

The Local Roots Work Team provides a great introduction to the exciting grassroots movement towards building a more sustainable food system through hands on farm work at a small scale organic farm. Through this work, students begin to connect agricultural practices and food production in the U.S. with that of Guatemala and the rest of the world and begin to create a greater understanding of the global food system.

This work team meets two Tuesday evenings to start and then 6 Saturdays (see dates below) and parents and guardians volunteer to organize carpooling for the farm visits.

Youth Global Citizens Digital Story Telling Work Team

Global Visionaries works together with Bridges to Understanding to create an opportunity for young people to learn, reflect and share about their role as young citizens at home and abroad.

The goal of the program is to work with youth in developing a sense of global inter-connectedness, an understanding of the implications of global problems for each other's regions, and empowerment to act on the issues that affect us locally and globally. Students gain skills in research, communication, writing, photography, video and cross-cultural understanding and technology while increasing their awareness of global issues.

Participants choose their own story to share and connect it to their experiences during their work service trip to Guatemala. At the end of the program, they will do a final presentation on their reflections.

Students are not required but are welcome to bring their own digital cameras. There are 12 sessions that meet about twice a month beginning November 19, 2009.

About Bridges to Understanding
Bridges to Understanding uses digital technology and the art of storytelling to empower and unite youth worldwide, enhance cross-cultural understanding and build global citizenship. www.bridgesweb.org

Youth Venture Work Team: Dream It. Do it. Challenge!

After completing your first year and returning from Guatemala, students want to continue to learn and develop new leadership skills so that they can contribute to their community.

GV is opening up 6 spaces for Summer Trip students on this Work Team before they go to Guatemala. If you are considering this Work Team, you should be a person who takes initiative and is excited to put your own ideas into action!

The Youth Venture Work Team is an exciting program that offers a series of workshops designed to support youth in taking action to create real social change. This work team brings together members of the Youth Board to collaborate and learn the skills and tools necessary to transform their ideas into concrete plans and finally, implementation.

The workshop series includes several creative facilitation activities: group discussions, team building exercises, concept introduction, and individual support to help students develop their own unique ideas. Youth will learn both the soft skills (leadership, teamwork, empathy) and hard skills (budgeting, goal-setting, division of responsibilities) that are crucial to change-making endeavors.

As part of this work team you will:

• Gain skills and tools to create change.
• Develop a plan to turn your idea into reality.
• Earn a grant of up to $1000 to get your idea started.
• Add a distinguishing experience to your resume and college application.
• Have fun!

This work team meets for 11 Saturdays starting in November 2009. (It is a late morning start!)

Website Work Team

Learn how to create and maintain websites by helping Global Visionaries with its website. Victor Araya, born in Chile, and Project Manager at Microsoft, will lead this Work Team.

• Gain technical skills and learn how to use tools for website management.
• Learn to manage web projects and work collaboratively.
• Have fun!

• Publish information on a website.
• Design new templates or modules (Blogs systems, Donation on-line, Facebook integration, and others).
• Input content via Publish/Edit options.
• Publish new entries for existing weblogs.
• Edit to modify existing entries within the weblogs.

This hands-on work team will meet Thursdays from 6:00-8:00 pm on the following dates:

Students who wish to continue over the summer may make arrangements with the GV staff.