I believe a huge part of leadership is servitude. To be able to lead people you have to be with them, learn from them and understand them. By serving them you fill those ideals and earn the respect of the people at the same time.
Barack has a huge background in serving people.
Not only does he serve people but he wants us to be servants to each other. As a Christian, this is the way it should be. As a human, this is the way it should be.
I hadn’t read Barack’s initiatives on serving each other until just the other night. And when I did I found some ideas that blew me away…
Expand Service-Learning in Our Nation’s Schools: Obama will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year. He will develop national guidelines for service- learning and will give schools better tools both to develop programs and to document student experience. Green Job Corps: Obama will create an energy-focused youth jobs program to provide disadvantaged youth with service opportunities weatherizing buildings and getting practical experience in fast-growing career fields.
Require 100 Hours of Service in College: Obama will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.
What would happen in this nation if all students performed 50hrs worth of community service a year? What would that do to our communities? How would that impact the student’s lives?
That’s HUGE people!!! This is incredible stuff!!!
How many students from low income families would be able to attend college if they had a $4000 tax credit. All for working 100hrs?!
Please, sit back and think about what kind of country we could become if everyone got involved in community service. Everyone helping each other.
I’m getting so excited just thinking about it!!!!
September 14, 2008 at 6:11 pm
sounds good. Where is the $4000 dollars to come from. Who will have to do what to get it, who will police the students to see if they are really doing anything or just turning in the hours, When will this start? What college kids are allowed this or highschool kids, only from KC School district who need it the most or those from Blue Springs, Lee’s Summitt who will actually do something and get college credits. Every time the colleges gets credits like this they raise the tuition, who will control this. Sounds great. Practical? Will take more than a Mr. Obama to make a statement to get this done.
September 14, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Ken,
Those are all great questions and are questions we need to be asking.
I do sense a bit of cynicism in your comment though. I also sense a bit of division in your statement that kids from KCMO district wouldn’t do anything while kids in the suburbs would. Would you please expand on that?
I think the idea behind this is more to get people more involved in their community. It’s not a statement of what can my government do for me (like your comment seems to imply) but more of a “what can I do for my community” statement.
As for needing more than a statement from Obama to get this done, you are right. It’s going to take you, me, our neighbors, and everyone to do this. That’s the exciting part!
I think Senator Obama has already shown that he can rally a group of volunteers together. Just last month the Obama campaign broke the record for the amount of money donated ever to a campaign. That doesn’t come from giving a speech. That comes from people on the ground connecting with each other. It comes from you and me talking about issues. It comes from people making phone calls, it comes from you talking to your neighbors about ideas.
So you ask how this will get done? It’s from you and me and I’m excited about it. Is it practical? Completely!!! We just have to make it happen.
Ken, thanks for reading my blog and I look forward to more of your comments!!!
peace
jarod