Age Range:

• Ages 6 to 17

Time Frame For Completion:

• 2 to 3 weeks

OVERVIEW:

  There are heroes everywhere -- even in the backyard of your own community. They are people whose positive actions and initiatives are done to benefit others. These special people are unsung heroes, heroes who are not famous or in the news for what they are doing, but whose efforts affect, enrich and touch the lives of others.

  ePALS would like to pay tribute to unsung heroes around the world by acknowledging them in conjunction with the United Nation's launch of the International Year Of Volunteers. ePALS invites classes around the world to collaborate in the exchange of information about students, teachers and others in their communities whose positive actions are making a difference to the quality of life of others.

  The framework for this project provides students with a global audience with whom to share their own personal initiatives, as well as findings and insights about the variety of activities, contributions and actions of others in their communities. In addition to the exchange of email between students, all participants will have the opportunity to contribute to the ePALS Unsung Heroes discussion board.

Project Format:

  This project is designed as a series of activities. Teachers are free to choose from any of the activities and to adapt and expand them to suit their students' grade level and student population. Throughout this project, students have opportunities to make use of ePALS' tools such as webmail and discussion boards.

Objectives:

1. To encourage awareness about volunteer actions through a collaborative learning process.
   
2. To encourage and inspire different types of volunteer efforts by students and student-centered organizations.
   
3. To research, gather, exchange and present information about special people who have made outstanding contributions.
   
4. To acknowledge positive actions taken by responsible students who are involved in volunteer activities.
   
5. To participate in a discussion board hosted by ePALS.