During the month of April, Alliance Academy VT Seva Youths participated in an Annual Mental Health week from April 23th-April 26st. Throughout the week, we created content on Instagram that promoted healthier living and pushed a focus on better Mental Health. Those activities included tips on how to develop better study habits, a mental health check-in, and various discussion questions such as: “What are words of affirmation you resonate with?” and “How do you like to de-stress?” This gave AAI VT Seva members and students the opportunity to discuss and share their feelings about the topic.

April is a Stress Awareness month and our Atlanta VTS Hope Team participated in the “Out of Darkness” walk on April 14, 2024 to bring mental heath awareness amongst teens and adults for their overall well-being! Atlanta VT Seva youths from 6 Highschools (Denmark, Forsyth Central, Lambert, Northview, Alliance Academy and Innovation Academy) participated in this Out of the Darkness Walk for Mental Health.

We had our Go Green webinar event at Sharon fork Library on 04/13/2024 10:30Am- 12:30PM . We learnt about Sustainable Living - - what is sustainability and why is it important? - 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) - How to practice Reduce and Reuse in daily life - Why recycle? - What can you recycle (paper, plastic, metal) - Recycling exercise (sorting of mixed items) - What happens to your recyclable items after collection (video) - Goal setting by youths for sustainable living

Have you ever wondered what goes behind the scenes to produce clean, safe drinking water? Atlanta VT Seva youths visited ‘Tom Lowe Atlanta Water Plant’ on April 4th to learn water treatment process. Our youths learned what goes behind-the-scenes and produce clean water for the fulton county residents each day. Clean drinking water is vital to our good health and it’s our responsibility to save water for the next generation. More than 40 Atlanta VT Seva youths participated in this educational Water Tour. This water plant has an incredible track record of providing clean, safe drinking water to more than 300,000 residents in Fulton County. Our youths will share the feedback about this tour and also their Action plan to save water in their daily life. We have build good relationships with the Water plant officials and they learned about VT Seva and the good work of VT Seva Atlanta team!

Have you ever wondered what goes behind the scenes to produce clean, safe drinking water? Atlanta VT Seva youths visited ‘Tom Lowe Atlanta Water Plant’ on April 4th to learn water treatment process. Our youths learned what goes behind-the-scenes and produce clean water for the fulton county residents each day. Clean drinking water is vital to our good health and it’s our responsibility to save water for the next generation. More than 40 Atlanta VT Seva youths participated in this educational Water Tour. This water plant has an incredible track record of providing clean, safe drinking water to more than 300,000 residents in Fulton County. Our youths will share the feedback about this tour and also their Action plan to save water in their daily life. We have build good relationships with the Water plant officials and they learned about VT Seva and the good work of VT Seva Atlanta team!

The Northview VT Seva Club organized a chess tournament during the 2024 spring break to have a full day of fun and excitement for the kids. The tournament was split up into 2 age groups. 7th -12th grade played on Wed, Apr 3rd 2024 and K-6th played on Thu, Apr 4th 2024. 13 students registered and played in the 7th-12th age group. 7 students participated in the K-6th age group. It was conducted online with 5 rounds of 15 min + 10 second bonus. The students were very competitive and thoroughly engaged in the tournament, resulting in 2 1st place finishers in the 7th - 12th age group. In the K-6th tournament 7 students participated with one winner, who won all of their games. In the end, the tournament turned out to be a fun and exciting experience for everyone.

April Cool 2024 Kick off on April 1st was launched in which more than 60 Atlanta youths participated in this amazing journey of sowing, growing, caring, and selling the plant seedlings to support the education of blind / visually challenged Nethra Vidyalaya students of Bharath. Youths sold variety of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowering plants. They made posters about their plant sale and told the customers that this Plant Sale is for a cause - to support their Nethra Vidyalaya friends in Bharath. The plant sale was organized on April 20th and 21st, 2024 in which we sold more than 1000 plants and raised more than 10k. It’s a great hands-on learning experience for our youths about the plant health, soil health, and learn the art and science behind good plant care. It also enhanced their leadership and entrepreneurship skills as they marketed their produce well by creating posters / boards and communicating effectively about the variety of plants they were selling, its benefits, and the cause that they were supporting!

On March 31st 2024, Lambert VT Seva took part in the Great Forsyth County Cleanup. We spent 4 hours cleaning up Caney Road and filled up 3 trash bags! This was an experience that showed us how much waste could be collected from a road that looks clean at first sight. After meeting at Caney Reserve Park, our volunteers walked along the road, unearthing a huge variety of trash- cigarettes, plastic bags, water bottles, PVC pipes, alcohol bottles, etc. It was a fun experience, and we all enjoyed talking with each other while cleaning up the environment!!

Atlanta youths and ladies learned Self Defense techniques on March 30, 2024. We learned realistic, practical, and effective ways to defend ourself and think clearly in very intense situations. It is about gaining the confidence to better control situations that might otherwise be completely outside of our control. We also learned how to attack if need arises. Total 40 youths and ladies participated in this workshop. Safeguarding ourself from potential dangers is not a luxury, but an essential skill in 21st century!

Earth Hour is one hour in the year that we all turned off our power to help Earth. Earth Hour believes that each and every one of us has the power to make a positive impact on our planet, but it’s up to us as individuals to decide how we do so. Anyone, anywhere can join the Biggest Hour for Earth by spending 60 minutes doing something - anything - positive for our planet. This year, 21 VT Seva youth volunteers participated in this amazing event. Many people lit candles to light their homes. Some even used the moonlight. But, they all had fun while helping conservative earth’s resources make it a better place

VT Seva Innovation Highschool Youths set a VT Seva booth at a Sewa Holi celebration at Cumming Fair grounds. They shared the significance of Holi festival, spread the word out of VT Seva volunteer work, motivated more than 20 youths to join VT Seva team, and enjoyed played Holi with colors of love and affection!

VT Seva Atlanta youths enthusiastically participated in cleaning Brannon road on March 17, 2024. They collected 6 bags of trash. By keeping the road litter-free, it reinforces our sense of civic responsibility and save tax payers money!

Everyday, we text people because it is quick and easy, but sometimes, writing a letter can be more personal, allow for more depth of communication, and can have more formality. It is vital that we are connected with our loved ones, and we should make them feel appreciated whenever possible. To do this South Forsyth High School VT Seva, started a letter-writing activity that has helped teenagers connect with their loved ones on a deeper level. It was a fairly successful project and we observed that our volunteers were able to connect with their family and friends!

Atlanta VT Seva youths participated in Meals By Grace on March 10, 2024. They sorted, packed, and delivered food to the needy families of North America. Being part of MBG mission, our goal here is to bring food, hope & transformation to the children and families in need, so that children can go to bed HAPPY not hungry!

Empowering our youths in this technological world is crucial to build Next Zen Leaders for VT Seva. At Atlanta VT Seva STEM program our goal is to integrate digital literacy and robotics to provide measurable outcomes in math, science, engineering, and technology by emphasizing on cognitive and social skills which is required to thrive in the 21st century. Young VT Seva learners will brainstorm and build prototypes to solve problems, face challenges with flexibility, and handle change. Our first project is to take Atlanta youths to the ‘Atlanta Science Festival’ at GA Tech to have hands-on learning in STEM field. On March 9, 2024, they learned about aerospace, chemical, mechanical, bio-molecular, bio-tech, sustainable design and much more. This is our pilot project with 30 youth participants. Overall, it’s a very successful start to our STEM project and young inquisitive minds enjoyed visiting GA Tech and exploring plethora of options for their college journey!