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 Malta, NY - Christina Johnson from Renaissance High School for Theatre and Musical Technology in the Bronx was selected from more than 250 national applicants to serve as an Associate Board Member for the State Farm Youth Advisory Board, representing the Northeast Zone.
Tara Suri from Edgemont High School in Scarsdale will be serving as an at-large board member, representing State Farm’s national partner – Youth Service America.
They are 2 of 17 from across the United States and Canada selected through a competitive process based on youth leadership experience and a telephone interview. The State Farm Youth Advisory Board includes students ages 17 to 20. As a leadership board, they oversee a $5 million-a-year State Farm funded initiative.
The board members will oversee the awarding of grants to student-led service-learning projects, which will address important community issues like teen seatbelt use and disaster preparedness. They will work in a virtual environment and convene for four meetings throughout the next year. The first 2008-2009 Board meeting will be at State Farm’s Corporate Headquarters in Bloomington, Ill. on June 23.
Christina Johnson will serve a one year term with the opportunity to serve an additional year. She will commit about 15 hours a month to the board. As an Associate Board Member, Christina will receive a $3,000 scholarship. She will be considered for a second term as a board member and an additional $5,000 scholarship. Tara Suri will serve a one year term as an at-large board member, earning a $5000.00 scholarship. Board members use the scholarships for post-secondary education at a four-year, two-year, or vocational training program.
"We value this opportunity to engage students as strategic leaders to help improve their education and communities," said Brian Carlson, State Farm's Northeast Zone's senior vice president. "As we work together to build strong, safe, well-educated communities, their leadership is critical to our nations’ success.”
In 2007, the board awarded grants to youth-led service-learning projects that addressed disaster preparedness, driver safety, financial education and access to higher education/closing the achievement gap.
Board members represent each of the 12 U.S. State Farm zones.the Canadian zone and represent our national service-learning partnerships.
For more information about the State Farm Youth Advisory Board visit www.statefarmyab.com.
About State Farm®:
State Farm® insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. State Farm's 17,000 agents and 67,000 employees serve over 77 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.9 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 32 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com® or in Canada statefarm.ca®.
About Service-learning:
Service-learning is a teaching method which supplements classroom studies with hands-on projects that address pressing community issues and problems. To learn more about service-learning visit www.nylc.org, www.ysa.org, www.service-learningpartnership.org and http://statefarm.com/about/part_spos/community/ed_excel/servlrng.asp.
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