YOUTH PROGRAMS

America’s young people are our most precious resource. They are who we trust will all our tomorrows, and for that, they deserve every ounce of time and effort that we can pour into them today. For many years, the National Exchange Club and local level clubs have sponsored a variety of activities designed to benefit and encourage our nation’s youth.

Through college scholarships at the community and national levels, mentoring, guidance, and service recognition, Exchange is making a difference for America’s youngest generations. If you are interested in showing our nation’s youth just how treasured they are, we encourage you to become involved with this important program of service.

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A.C.E. AWARD

The Accepting the Challenge of Excellence (A.C.E.) is a scholarship award for students that have overcome adversity in order to graduate from high school. The types of adversity may include emotional, financial, and/or physical hurdles. The Exchange Club of Chandler selects an A.C.E. Award winner at the local level. That student is then submitted to the district level. If a student is selected as the district level A.C.E. Award winner, they are then submitted to the National level. The winner of the National Exchange Club A.C.E. Award receives a scholarship award of $15,ooo to pursue their college education.

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READ ACROSS AMERICA

Read Across America was created in 1998 by the National Education Association to improve literacy by encouraging school children to read. Read Across America started as a day in March commemorating the classic children’s author Dr. Seuss, as March 2nd is his birthday.

Over time, it has developed into a year round program that encourages our youth to develop their reading and writing skills and appreciation for reading the written word. This is especially important given that it is estimated that as many as 45 million (!) U.S. citizens are unable to read above a 5th grade level.

Starting children reading at as young an age as possible, has a number of benefits including vocabulary improvement, cognitive development, and stress reduction.

The Exchange Club of Chandler observes and celebrates Read Across America by arranging for club members and Friends of Exchange volunteers to go into a Chandler Unified School District Elementary School and read to the children. In addition, we show our appreciation for all that the teachers do by providing them with lunch on the day we read to the children.

BUDDY BENCHES

The Exchange Club of Chandler has sponsored Buddy Benches and their installation (thank you to The Edge Construction for installing the benches) at six Chandler Elementary schools.

Buddy Benches (or Friendship Benches) are placed on school grounds or in a park for the special purpose of helping children make new friends. If a child is new to a school or community, feels lonely, left out, or needs someone to play with, they sit on the Buddy Bench. This lets other children know that the person sitting on the Buddy Bench wants some company or to make a new friend.

Buddy Benches not only help children make new friends, but they can also help reduce loneliness and improve children’s social skills. Since reaching out to make new friends can be scary (let’s face it, at any age), a Buddy Bench program in a school can help teach children that it is OK to ask for company.

Buddy Benches may also be useful in combating bullying. Since bullying can stem from exclusion and a lack of empathy, a Buddy Bench program in a school can be used to teach children empathy and encourage them to reach out to another child sitting on the Buddy Bench in supportive and friendly manner, thus helping children learn kindness and understanding for others.

Does your school or park need a Buddy Bench? Reach out to the Exchange Club of Chandler at secretary.chandlerexchangeclub@gmail.com and let us know. We’ll be glad to work with your school to get a Buddy Bench sponsored and installed to help the children in your school make new friends.

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