Nickelodeon HALO Awards

11/2/2011

 
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Every year Nick Cannon hosts an event on Nickelodeon honoring teens who are Helping and Leading Others (HALO). This year the TeenNick HALO Awards features David Beckham, Jessica Biel, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift who are partnering with these teens who are working to create social change in their communities and around the world. 
You can get involved too. Go to How Do You HALO? and upload a video describing what you can do in your community to make a difference. The cool part is, your video may be chosen and shown during the awards ceremony!

What makes this year extra special though, is that Nickelodeon is partnering with DonorsChoose.org for a two-week campaign that will translate user's clicks and activity into real life donations to at-risk schools around the nation. 

HALO Awards airs November 6 on Nick at Nite and November 7 on Teen Nick!

The A.L.L.Y. Awards

7/5/2011

 
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AllyKatzz is a social networking site that features teen and tween girl bloggers. They're looking for nominees for their A.L.L.Y. Awards. (I'm not really sure what A.L.L.Y. stands for, but let me know if you find out when you visit their site -- which is pretty cool actually. It's a little too pink for me -- but it does have a lot of black too, so it evens out.)

The Awards are going to be presented on August 11 and they honor girls who've worked to help bring about positive change in the world. In other words: Real World F.G.s!

Here are some former winners, to inspire you:

Lulu Cerone: Visit her blog, LemonAID Warriors, where she gives advice and help to kids who want to run their own fundraiser.

Shannon MacNamara: Her organization, Share in Africa, is about empowering girls in Africa through education.

Katie Stagliano: She's got a bunch of gardens and donates the crops. She wants other kids to do this too. You can find out more at her website, Katie's Krops.

That's a lot of real world magic. If you've spun some similar magic of your own, go to the AllyKatzz site and nominate yourself. And let me know if you're picked!

Real Teens 2011

3/15/2011

 
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If you ask me a "real teen" is pretty much everybody from 13 to 19 who isn't fictional, right? Okay, well, this company Aeropostale apparently defines real teens differently, as kids "aspiring to do the right thing in life and embodying compassion, integrity and a spirit of teamwork."

In other words: Real World, F.G.s!

If that's you, you can nominate yourself here: Real Teens (click on Become a Real Teen 2011)

People then vote for you, and once it's narrowed down to 87 finalists, celebrity judges pick the top ten, who get a $5000 scholarship and also get to make a pretty cool video diary that's posted on the site. Check out the 2010 top ten here.

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The 87 finalists get a $100 Aeropostale gift card. (No, it's not a mailing and packaging company, it's a clothing store chain.)

Unfortunately, I don't qualify and that's not just because I have issues with teamwork. It's mainly because I'm fictional, not real. Maybe one day  Aeropostale will let Fake Teens enter. Until then, I wish all you real people luck, without any bitterness or jealousy...really!

The Caring Institute

2/2/2011

 
Yes, I know. Lots of kids do good things for people and animals and the environment and the world, etc., without using a wand and without seeking any personal gain. I may not be one of them, but if you know any, you can nominate them for a Caring Award, which is given by this organization called The Caring Institute. Young adult winners get money for college as part of the award. (!!!)

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They have a list of the past winners on the site, but you have to scroll down to the Young Adult winners. (Why???? The young adults should be first, right? Whatever.) You can click on each profile to read more about them, but if you don't have time for all that, here's some quick highlights about the teen (and one pre-) winners:

Amanda LaMunyon, an artist who uses her art to raise money for kids with disabilities, including autism.

Molly and Carly Houlahan, who run a company called Hives for Lives that makes honey products that they sell to raise money for cancer.

Talia Leman, who started Random Kids, an organization where kids and teachers can connect with each other to solve any world issue that interests them.

Joshua Williams, age nine (AGE NINE!!!), who started the Joshua's Heart Foundation to help the poor in his neighborhood, and which has expanded to help out hunger worldwide.

Alison Mansfield, who has helped gather TONS of food and other supplies to send to soldiers overseas through Operation U.S. Troop Support.

So, obviously, you can't nominate somebody just because they loaned you ten dollars for those earrings or gave you a ride to the mall. They need to have done something BIG and VERY helpful, for LOTS of people. But there might be someone at your school or in your neighborhood who has -- or knows someone who has -- or knows someone who knows someone...you get the picture.