The University of Notre Dame’s Take Ten program has received an Award for Excellence from Serve Indiana, the state’s volunteer service agency. The Awards for Excellence are Indiana’s most prestigious annual awards celebrating the accomplishments of dedicated volunteers and service members.
Take Ten is a research-based conflict resolution curriculum designed at the University of Notre Dame and headquartered at the University’s Robinson Community Learning Center. Take Ten’s mission is to provide youth with positive alternatives to violence and build their capacity to make more informed choices when faced with conflict. Take Ten volunteers work on a weekly basis with schoolchildren of all grades to teach them the skills needed to resolve conflict peacefully.
Serve Indiana’s award citation noted: “Take Ten is a conflict resolution, violence/bullying-prevention program that began as a slogan campaign and developed at the University of Notre Dame into a successful curriculum serving schools and other sites throughout the greater Michiana area. Take Ten reaches, indirectly, 8,000-10,000 youth during an academic year with 120 volunteers who total 7,700 hours per academic year in direct service to local schools and non-profit community sites.”
“We are very proud to be recognized by the State of Indiana for the commitment to service learning that we make with the Take Ten program,” said Ellen Kyes, Take Ten program director. “Over the years that we have served local schools, we have worked to ensure that the college students who participate gain in knowledge and experience while serving the community. Thanks to these wonderful, committed students for their work that made this award possible.”
Serve Indiana, a division of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, strives to be a statewide public champion for service, a strong local, regional and national partner, an efficient grant maker and a broker of federal and state resources allocated toward service and volunteerism.