In January, we invited PASC members to celebrate the progress made in Ivory Park, South Africa through their support of the “Keep It!” Campaign. Since the project’s inception 18-months ago, an expanding network of social entrepreneurs has allowed us to make significant advances toward our goal. A library has been built, books are on the shelves, and we are funding the salaries of several fulltime teachers. We have raised half of our fundraising goal. As we look forward to continued progress in 2011, we would like to introduce an exciting year-long initiative inspired by several of our PASC member schools and organized by our regional representatives.

This year, PASC and “Keep It!” are sponsoring a statewide contest to challenge member schools to act locally and reach globally. With this contest, schools are invited to host dodgeball tournaments in support of the Keep It! Campaign. The tournament is based on a scalable, replicable project model first used by students at North Allegheny. With the assistance of NA students and staff, PASC and Keep It! supporters have developed a how-to manual that documents the secrets to planning a successful dodgeball tournament. This manual is now available to all PASC member schools.

In addition to presenting students with valuable lessons in leadership, the goal of the dodgeball project is to fund our continuing efforts in Ivory Park AND to support community needs in your own hometown. This concept is being modeled by one of our partner schools. At Oak Park Elementary, students have created a sunshine fund. Monies raised throughout the year are shared by the Oak Park and the Ivory Park communities. Support of the sunshine fund allows students and staff to care for their own neighbors while building connections with people thousands of miles away.

It is hoped that through Keep It! Dodgeball Tournaments, schools can provide support to their own communities and to Ivory Park. The details for the dodgeball tournament contest are as follows:

• Our goal is to recruit sixty schools to sponsor Keep It! Dodgeball Tournaments before October 15, 2011.

• Between January 15th and March 15th PASC will promote the tournament idea and recruit schools to register online at www.keepitcampaign.com/dodgeball.

To encourage schools to go the extra mile, PASC is offering the following prizes to the schools and districts that provide the most support.

• For the PASC district that registers the greatest percentage of their member schools by March 15th (number of schools registered divided by the number of schools in that district), Bob Tryanski has agreed to speak at their District Conference or Leadership Workshop for free (host school will cover travel expenses).

• For the school that raises the most money to support the “Keep It!” Campaign (dollars raised divided by the number of students in the school), Bob Tryanski has agreed to offer a free assembly and leadership workshop next fall (host school will cover travel expenses). The winning school will also receive a free registration to the PASC State Conference at Altoona High School.

For your convenience, a link has been established that provides easy access to the how-to manual, enrollment form, publicity templates, and everything you need to know about hosting a dodgeball tournament at your school. The link also includes a direct connection to the Keep It! Campaign’s Facebook page. Don’t forget to join our community on Facebook and share your story with other PASC schools.

www.keepitcampaign.com/dodgeball

In addition to sharing your story on the Keep It! Facebook page, this year’s PASC regional representatives have also been challenged to make contact with their regional student council presidents via Facebook. This will be a great tool for sharing ideas about running the tournaments, challenging neighboring schools and establishing bragging rights on who has raised the most funds for Ivory Park. If you haven’t heard from your rep, find out who he or she is and send them a friend request.

“Look at the organizations that have had tremendous success mobilizing high school students to support their cause through special programs — organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, or the American Cancer Society – and ask yourself what these organizations have in common. I think the answer is that each of them has an involvement template that any organization can follow,” says Tryanski. “If other schools embrace this idea and implement the strategies outlined by the team at North Allegheny, the Dodgeball Tournament could easily turn out to be our Relay for Life. The possibilities are exciting!”

By working together to build a network of social entrepreneurs, there is no limit to the positive impact that we can create. . .in our own communities and across the globe in Ivory Park.