Media Motivators
"Every week my local newspaper selects the persons of the week, usually one
adult and one youth, based on the things they have done to make a difference in
the community. This is a very motivating article. It gives everyone the message
that they can make a difference and gives them ideas of what they can do."
Jenny Deppen, Conrad Weiser High School, Robesonia, Pennsylvania
"Local television station KDRV makes it easy to help in time of need. Coats for Kids is an organization where barrels and drop-off points are assigned to collect coats and money to buy new coats for children in need. Over 3,000 coats were collected and $1,900 was donated to the effort."
Erik Russell, Phoenix High School, Phoenix, Oregon
"[The] Scholar of the Week program sponsored by WAKA, a local television station, [accepts entries] based on academic averages and leadership students are rewarded for their good deeds with an interview and a short television spot. In each issue [of the Tuscaloosa News] someone is honored for his contribution to the community."
Beth Swanzy, Demopolis High School, Demopolis, Alabama
"The Harvard Campus Outreach Opportunity League branched out to 250 schools by having its oldest college service organization dream up projects, and write detailed proposals on how to operate and fund them. The reward was a funded contract for the best project."
Danielle Johnson, Valhalla High, Valhalla. New York
"America Works gave him [Mr. Williams] the opportunity to get office education by borrowing [for him] the money he needed, and by finding [him] the school he needed. They also helped him to get a job. After Mr. Williams had the job for about one year and his job was secure, he paid back the money America Works lent him."
Sebastian Ullrich, Rolla High , Rolla, North Dakota
"A local television station (CBS's KENS-TV in San Antonio) newscast (Eyewitness News) also has several projects they use for good intentions. One was a pilot project that started about one year ago, called "The Wall of Shame". It shows pictures and footage of rundown, vacant buildings that are not only eyesores, but also are hangouts for vagrants, and places that run rampant with crime. After showing the area, if the problem is not taken care of, the owner is identified and later interviewed. This has been a very successful program. Another project is titled 'Eyewitness Wants to Know'. This one tackles a wide variety of topics around the city, like several tons of old tires stuck in a field, or a public baseball park being vandalized, and many other things similar to this. Both projects have brought about lots of changes and are extremely successful and popular."
Tim Pawelek, Falls City High School, Falls City, Texas
"I think that one of the best things we can do is to publicize more of the good things happening in our school, government, and communities, and put less emphasis on the bad things."
Libby Douglas, Phoenix High, Phoenix, Oregon
"There could be a small section in the local newspaper to promote good things that are happening, and about those people who are making it happen."
Meralee Jones, Kiona-Benton HS, Benton City, Washington
"One radio station in Dallas, Texas, KDGE, got a letter from a mother wishing she could get her son his Christmas wish. Her son wanted a bicycle, but the mother couldn't afford food, much less a bicycle. The radio station not only sponsored a food drive for the two, it also bought a bike for the boy."
Shaine Jenkins, Blue Ridge High School, Blue Ridge, Texas