NATIONAL

National Association of Police Athletic / Activities Leagues, Inc.

March 2012 | Volume 1, Issue 4 | http://www.NationalPAL.org

UPCOMING EVENT» 68th Annual National PAL Conference

Caribe Royale Orlando Orlando, Florida May 20-25, 2012 Registration deadline: April 19, 2012 See back cover for more details.

IN THIS ISSUE » Thoughts from the President’s

Office

» Upcoming Event

» Cape Cod PAL youth learn about financial literacy

» New Web tool to streamline grant searches now available

» North Augusta PAL member joins the Navy Boxing Club

» DSAL offers variety of physical activities for Alameda County youth

» SFAPAL Youth Conference Committee plans 14th Annual Youth Directors Conference

» NetSmartz releases Kit for Internet safety

» 2012 National PAL Conference and Training scheduled for May

» National PAL message shared at OJJDP national conference

Thoughts from the President’s OfficeAs we progress into 2012, National PAL continues to improve our association to better serve our Member Chapters. 2011 was a good year for us in many ways, despite the challenging economic times. National PAL Executive Director Mike Dillhyon has secured funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. As a result, National PAL received a $3 million national mentoring grant for this year.

A Strategic Planning Committee has been established and met January 23-24 to create a five-year plan that will be presented to the Board of Directors for approval. We will be working hard to complete the strategic plan so that it can be presented at this year’s National PAL Conference.

We are excited to host the 68th Annual National PAL Conference in Orlando, Florida, May 20-25. Please register and join us for this exciting, annual event. Bring your families and visit Walt Disney World, Universal Studios or Sea World together after conference hours.

In addition, I am asking every Member Chapter to recommend business leaders to serve on the new National PAL Foundation Board of Directors. As a part of the National PAL movement, we ask that you all help secure services to improve our ability to serve the youth of this great country. I want to reinforce the importance of working together to enhance our resources and make a difference on all levels. I believe National PAL can become a major source of funding and support for our local Chapters if we all work together. We have a long history on our side. Now is the time to reach for higher goals and strengthen our organization.

Thank you for your service and continued support of National PAL.

Sincerely,

LB Scott | President

L.B. Scott and other SFAPAL staff pose with the YCC members during the 2012 Youth Directors Conference.

North Augusta PAL member joins the Navy Boxing Club

Ten years ago, Darius Bright would have told you he was a troubled youth who often got into trouble. But after joining the North Augusta PAL Boxing Club in Georgia, he turned his life around. And now, at age 20, Bright is joining the Navy Boxing Club.

Bright’s parents signed him up for the Club in 2001, so he could learn discipline. While resistant at first, Bright took to the sport quickly. In an article in The Augusta Chronicle, Bright said:

“After God and my parents, I don’t love anything more than boxing. It’s different from being in a school fight. With boxing, it actually means something and it’s not a barbarian sport. It takes a lot of thought. You have to train; you have to be disciplined.”

Bright will leave in six months for the Naval Station Great Lakes in Great Lakes, Illinois, near Chicago, where boxing will be his main focus. Even though Bright does not have as much experience as some of the other boxers, his trainers at the PAL Chapter noted he has the heart and determination to make up for it.

And as Bright has acknowledged, he fostered these qualities under the watch of the North Augusta PAL staff. It is the lessons he learned there that will help motivate him as he starts this new chapter in his life. In The Augusta Chronicle story, Bright told the reporter:

“Don’t quit. In life, in the beginning you can be losing, but if you quit, you will definitely lose. If you keep going, you might end up winning the last round. You have to keep going. That, and listen and pay attention to what people are telling you. I’ve learned that lesson, and I’m glad I did.”

To learn more about Darius and his experience at the North Augusta PAL, read the news article published by The Augusta Chronicle: http://bit.ly/sMeqVF.

Members of the Cape Cod PAL show off their Boston Bruins’ hockey posters. TD Bank gave VIP access to Chapter members and staff for the home game on November 12, 2011.

Cape Cod PAL youth learn about financial literacy

As part of TD Bank’s WOW Kids Zone program, 35 youth from the Cape Cod PAL learned about financial management and planning. Representatives from TD Bank led financial literacy classes for the PAL members in hopes to provide them with valuable information about money, saving, banking and investing. Tailored for both children and teens, lesson plans are designed to be interactive, educational and fun. They cover topics such as the value of money, saving versus spending, balancing a checkbook, planning a budget and creating an investment.

As a reward, TD Bank instructors gave the PAL members a goody bag, which included $10 redeemable when opening a TD Bank account.

In addition, 12 participating youth were able to attend a Boston Bruins hockey game in November. TD Bank treated the PAL youth and chaperones to VIP access including entrance through the players’ doors, a picture with the Zamboni, seats in the 13th row, food vouchers and several pictures on the Jumbotron.

New Web tool to streamline grant

searches now availableWhile Grants.gov offers thousands of federal funding opportunities for organizations of all kids, finding a well-suited opportunity can be daunting. But organizations can now use a new Web tool that filters searches by topics and agencies. Launched by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, the tool finds opportunities that are likely to fund

youth programs, streamlining the search process. To use this resource, go to http://www.FindYouthInfo.gov/GrantsSearch.aspx.

DSAL offers variety of physical activities for Alameda County youth More than 4,000 youth and family members in California’s Alameda County enjoyed physical activity programming provided by the county’s Deputy Sheriff’s Activities League (DSAL) in 2011. The Chapter has partnered with local organizations to provide three separate programs that reach the entire county.

For the 2012 year, DSAL hopes to use its partnerships to bolster these three programs:

1. Exercise is Medicine (Ex is Rx) During the summer of 2011, DSAL used a grant from Kaiser Permanente to target 35 youth who struggled in their physical education classes. The Chapter provided them with regular classes in one of three recreational areas - track, basketball or swimming – in partnership with the San Leandro Unified School District and the Hayward Area Recreation and Parks District (HARD). In order for families to work together on this program, DSAL hosted three parent engagement nights to equip them with helpful information and resources. DSAL also launched the Don’t Just Talk about It, Walk about It! walking club as part of the program in Ashland and Cherryland. Once a week, residents from these communities come together in the pursuit of being fit and healthy.

2. Soccer League Every Saturday for four months, more than 1,500 youth and community members gathered for DSAL soccer

league games. Run by a seven-member Soccer Advisory Board, 1,000 youth and 80 adult coaches participated in the league from April to July. This was DSAL’s third successful soccer season, and it is gearing up to start the fourth.

3. Mobile Recreation It was three years ago when DSAL unveiled its Mobile Recreation unit. In the form of a donated, unused Federal

Emergency Management Agency trailer, DSAL and HARD staff travel to different community and school sites and provide a variety of recreational activities to Alameda County’s youth. Youth can wrestle in inflatable sumo suits, try an obstacle course, hula-hoop or do a bungee run, among many other activities. The Mobile Recreation unit served more than 3,000 kids and family members in 2011.

SFAPAL Youth Conference Committee plans 14th Annual Youth Directors Conference

After months of dedicated planning, the Youth Conference Committee (YCC) of the State of Florida Association of PAL (SFAPAL) hosted another successful Youth Directors Conference. More than 200 youth from 17 PAL Chapters attended the three-day event held at Walt Disney World’s Coronado Resort Conference Center in the beginning of January. The 14th annual conference offered educational training sessions on living healthy lifestyles, effecting change, overcoming adversity and effectively communicating. Youth directors across Florida came together for the event, in addition to youth from PAL Chapters in Howell, New Jersey; Jersey City, New Jersey; and Montgomery, Ohio. In order to attend the conference, Youth Directors Councils (YDC) in Chapters across the country had to earn their spots by completing required community service hours and fulfilling Florida PAL license tag quotas. Chapters could send up to four youth members and one adult chaperone.

Members of the YCC in Florida organized the event, but it took several steps for these 12 youth to earn the coveted positions. First, youth ages 10 to18 have to join YDCs in their local Chapters. Then members of the YDCs elected 16 peers to serve on the Youth Advisory Committee, one youth director from every Chapter in Florida. Twelve of those youth then are elected to the YCC. The YCC is responsible for working alongside the SFAPAL office to plan the entire event, from auditioning talent to emceeing the event to set-up and tear-down. Youth directors in all three of these groups are empowered to make decisions regarding their Chapter’s organization and operations in the effort to show young people that their actions impact their community. To learn more about SFAPAL Youth Directors Council, go to http://www.SFAPAL.com/YD_Council.htm.

A player on the DSAL youth soccer league goes for a kick at a game in the 2011 season.

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The YCC members take a break from setting up to take a picture with the conference presenters, whom they

auditioned and selected for the conference.

CONTACT US National PAL Newsletter Submissionsc/o FirstPic, Inc.2614 Chapel Lake DriveGambrills, MD 21054Toll free number: 1-800-955-2232Fax number: 1-443-302-2084E-mail: PALsupport@firstpic.org

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Thank you Alameda County DSAL, Cape Cod PAL, North Augusta PAL, and the State of Florida Association of PAL for your submissions to this issue!This monthly e-mail update is brought to you by National PAL featuring news and resources to help PAL Chapters successfully implement local programs.

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National PAL message shared at OJJDP national

conference

In October 2011, National PAL Executive Director Mike Dillhyon attended the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) national conference. More than 2,300 people attended the event, titled Children’s Justice & Safety: Unite, Build, Lead, which provided workshops, plenary sessions and presentations by leading experts and researchers to promote evidence-based practices that address emerging concerns in delinquency prevention, juvenile justice and victimization. One of the main focuses of the conference was to emphasize the importance of data-driven strategies and evidence-based approaches.

Dillhyon also managed a National PAL booth in the conference’s exhibition hall. Conference participants had the opportunity to talk one-on-one with Dillhyon about National PAL’s mission, purpose and the youth with whom PAL Chapters nationwide work every day in an effort to prevent juvenile crime.

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NetSmartz releases Kit for Internet safety

Looking for guidelines on teaching online safety in your PAL Chapter? NetSmartz Workshop, a program of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, has released an Online Safety Education Kit. This comprehensive Kit includes an interactive PowerPoint presentation, a full-size poster, safety pledges, tip sheets, lesson plans and a resource manual. Designed to be convenient and ready-to-use, the tool kit is intended for teachers, youth program coordinators, counselors, religious leaders, law enforcement officers and social service providers. Request a copy of the Elementary School Online Safety Education Kit by visiting http://www.netsmartz.org/kit, or go to http://www.netsmartz.org/mskit for the copy of the Middle School Online Safety Education Kit.

2012 National PAL Conference and Training scheduled for May

Register now for the 68th Annual National PAL Conference scheduled for May 20-25 in Orlando, Florida. Over the five days, National PAL will offer plenary and breakout sessions as well as an exhibition hall for members to learn more about building their PAL Chapter.

At last year’s conference, participants heard presentations on a variety of topics, including building

the National PAL brand, fundraising tips, bolstering youth development programming and developing leadership skills, among others. The 2012 conference will be held at the Caribe Royale Orlando. Registration fees must be mailed or submitted online by April 19.

For immediate inquiries, contact Eric Widness at (561) 745-5535 or EWidness@NationalPAL.org.

To learn more about the conference, go to: http://www.NationalPAL.org.

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