1. Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History, MA.

Staff from the museum visit local schools to put on extensive stamp programs. They normally charge $3 per student to cover their overhead. They also charge $3 per student to put on activities for educational programs at the museum. The BNAPS grant allowed free tuition for 100 students.

2. ORAPEX, Ontario.

There is an active youth program at this national show with a youth booth. Our grant helped fund 56 stock books, stamp hinges and magnifiers. After the show, Doug Lingard provided a detailed report. Here is an excerpt:

"It is estimated close to 500 youths attended the Youth Booth over the two days of the show. Those youths who seemed to be really interested in stamp collecting and did not have an album or book in which to keep their stamps, were given a stock book until they ran out. Upon receiving a stock book, some young collectors came back the next day with a friend or friends so they could obtain one as well…"

3. PS37 Annex (School), NY.

Michael Endress is a special education teacher whose 20-25 students are autistic. The grant allowed the school to obtain five gift collections subscriptions from USPS. Each collection consists of five separate shipments. In response to an earlier donation (not from BNAPS) students wrote:

"Stamps help us learn a lot about the world. Mr. Mike says we are getting smarter and wiser every day." Teacher Endress says they are now expanding the stamp program to the entire school and that "your donation has been very inspiring to me, the students, and the hobby in general."

4. Brantford Junior Stamp Club, Ontario.

The Brantford Stamp Club decided to restart a youth program after a 50-year absence. They anticipated an attendance of 15-20 soon. Our grant supplemented a contribution from the senior club, and helped to pay for equipment and a new catalogue. George Speers, who coordinates the club, sent a detailed list of club goals and month-by-month program activities for the club that would be a good model for any junior club. Speers joined BNAPS as a result of the program.

1. Girl Scout Seminars

"Your grant allowed me to purchase a case of hinges and some glassines from a dealer who agreed to sell me the items at cost. 20 scouts attended each seminar."

2. Glenview Middle School

"We have had 2 meetings of the Glenville Stamp Collectors - 16 kids the first time and 11 the second time. Paul Tomkins, the winner you sent prizes to, showed everything he received.

3. Stamp Camp USA

"Just want to extend my appreciation as well for the grant funding…We will be getting the supplies and using them immediately with our upcoming camps. Thanks to you, and all those responsible. We truly appreciate it."

4. NOVAPEX 2007

"Thanks to BNAPS for the financial help for the Youth Table at the recent Novapex 2007. The Vario sheets were a great success. The children enjoyed getting sophisticated additions for their collecting habits. They could see the benefit of organizing their stamps in rows and in topics…"

1. San Marcos Boys and Girls Club

"Many thanks for sharing with the San Marcos kid's stamp club and Boy Scout stamp collector's merit badge program. Thank you (also) for your donation of stamps to the Boys and Girls Club's youth collecting club."

2. Postal History Foundation Funds were used to purchase a children's rug imprinted with a map of the United States, along with materials providing enlarged stamps (statehood, flags, & state flowers/birds) for kids to Velcro onto the matching state.

3. Winnipeg Junior Stamp Club

Funds were provided for materials so that club could recruit new members through newspaper ads and at tables at malls.

4. Fitch Middleschool Stamp Club

Funds paid for bus to Philatelic Show 2008, in Boxsborough. "Thirty-one students made the trip…my kids put in a dozen exhibits…several boys won prizes for exhibits - one on Boy Scouting and the other on wild animals. Girls also won prizes, both for exhibits and in a competition in the Youth Area."

1. Youth Stamp Collecting

Grant will encourage youth exhibitors who exhibited at SEAPEX in 2008, each earning at least a silver and one the Youth Grand. They want to continue exhibiting. Funds will be used to pay for Exhibiting handbooks and Judging Handbooks, and for memberships in ATA.

2. Don Shorting

Funds are to pay for prizes, ribbons, plaques, etc for winners of Don's annual First Day Cover Design Contest. "During the 2008-2009 school year 112 students from four Elementary schools submitted entries. These children were 7-10."

3. St. Louis Stamp Expo (Feb. 2010)

Funds are to pay for stock pages and hinges to stamp collector bags that is expected to be handed out to some 350+ elementary school children that will be brought in by Stamp Expo buses. It's anticipated an additional 150-200 students will visit the Youth Room over the weekend.

4. 2008 Texas Philatelic Society Youth Holiday Stamp Design Contest

Sheena Bosworth will be running this year's program and funding is to pay for brochures and posters promoting the event, prizes and postage. The 2008 contest resulted in a record 175 entries with prizes awarded for each age group.

BNAPS AND THE BOY SCOUTS Karl Deibel writes (April 10, 2010): “Thank you for sharing with the Boy Scouts in San Diego County. I have been certifying Scouts for over five years and we now have 450 boys with Scout Collecting Merit Badges. From time to time I see a boy or receive a note from one who earned the Merit Badge thanking me for getting him started in stamp collecting.” BNAPS has been supporting Karl with grants and free stamps since 2007. This year we have also helped Dr. Rex Holt of Hoschton, Georgia, providing him better philatelic items as awards for four new Eagle Scouts. This month we have given about 7,000 free stamps and several premium items to Brian Jones for a program at WESTPEX, in San Francisco - again to encourage collecting by scouts and help them obtain merit badges. Bob Dyer, BNAPS Youth Activity Program Coordinator.

San Marcos Scouts

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KIDSfest 2009 MaryAnn Bowman The BNAPS Youth Activity Program Grant of $250 given to the Wisconsin Federation of Stamp Clubs (WFSC) was used for participation (booth fees) at KIDSfest in April. The Milwaukee-area two-day show is free to the public and held at the State Fair Expo Center. The event consists of two days and 160,000 square feet of fun, entertainment, learning, and hands-on activities for families. In addition to the commercial exhibitors and businesses, there are 13 different stages and areas devoted to special programming throughout the event. The Wisconsin Federation of Stamp Clubs had booth space as well as participated in their Learning Lab with a special presentation (see illustration). The front table had a tri-fold display with details announcing local area stamp clubs and their meeting times. Introductory booklets to stamp collecting and other stamp-related give-aways were also on the table. A large bin of on-paper stamps were free for the taking. Glassine envelopes and directions for removing the stamps from paper were handed out. A battery-operated electric game board titled "Scavenger Hunt" was also on the table and children who completed the activity were given an extra prize. Those gift choices included packets of off-paper stamps, coloring books, activity packets, stamp pins, stamp catalogues, and other miscellaneous stamp-related products. One or more adults were always on hand to answer stamp related questions. On Saturday, the WFSC was featured with a program titled "Secrets of Stamp Collecting" in the Learning Lab. A one-hour time slot was given to promote the hobby. A youth member from a local stamp club demonstrated the proper removal of stamps from paper. Tables were set up in the area and provided children with a hands-on activity to learn more about stamps and collecting through the use of 12 different electric game boards with activities appropriate for many different age groups. The youngest of collectors could enjoy "How Many" where they looked at stamps and counted the number of items (example: three bells). The older youth and those looking for a challenge tried to match a foreign stamp to its location on a map. There were three different game boards (and maps) - one each for Europe, Asia, and Africa. "Stamp Types" and "Condition of Stamps" were most directly related to the basics of stamp collecting. There were two game boards related to topical collecting whereby children were matching a subject to a stamp that depicted that topic (example: horse, astronaut, cat, dog, etc.) Several game boards were related to academic subjects. One related to math was called "Add 'Em Up" and depicted two or more different postage stamps that might have been used to make a particular postage rate. Another (science-related) offered clues to the identity of an animal and you matched the clue to the stamp picturing that animal. For the history buff, there were stamps depicting events from our nation's history and you had to match it with a date. The game boards offered flexibility for the ebb and flow of the crowd as well as providing activities for varying age and ability groups.

KidsFest Booth Kids enjoying KidsFest

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St. Louis Stamp Expo 2009 Youth Activities News: St. Louis Stamp Expo 2009 Youth Room Success The BNAPS Youth Activity Program grant awarded to St. Louis Stamp Expo 2009 helped to add to a succesful event. Over 400 children were bussed in to the Expo by local schools where they took part in a variety of activities in in a specially provided Youth Room with educational exhibits, games, and contests. The donated money was used towards stamp collecting starter kits which the children took away with them at the end of the day. Gregory Scott Ward, St. Louis Stamp Expo Youth Chairman, said: "Thank you again for the awarding of the grant monies and the emphasis on Youth that BNAPS upholds." You can read his whole letter of thanks here.

St. Louis Stamp Expo 2009 Youth Activities Local schools bus students to the Expo on Friday Kids and parents participate in the arranged stamp centered projects all weekend

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8 February 2009

U.S. RUG MAP ACTIVITY A GREAT HIT WITH KIDS AT ARIPEX

Late in 2008, the BNAPS Youth Activity Program gave a grant to the Postal History Foundation in Arizona for an activity at the ARIPEX 2009 APS show. Here is an extract from a letter of thanks by Lisa Dembowski, the Educational Director, dated February 2, 2009: Thank you very much for your donation to the ARIPEX Kids Zone. Hundreds of children were bused to the show from local schools. The kids loved the US Rug Map activity. There were so many footprints on it I need to clean it! Two more classes are going to be using it in March when they tour the foundation. See the accompanying photo. It shows the purpose of the map. Lisa sent me a copy of a letter of thanks from one of the children attending the show: "The stamp show was really fun! I liked the center that showed you how to put a stamp in the cover without touching them. I also liked finding places on the USA map. I learned so much about Stamps and how much they are worth. I wanted to thank you for paying for our bus." ----Enrique

 

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27 May 2008

BNAPS GRANT HELPS GET YOUNG STAMP COLLECTORS TO PHILATELIC SHOW

A BNAPS Youth Activity grant helped fund bus travel for the Fitch Middle School Stamp Club to the recent 2008 Philatelic Show in Boxborough, Massachusetts. The school is located in Groton, Connecticut and thirty-one students took a special bus to the American Philatelic Show on May 9th. The grant was $200.

Robert F. Welt led the youth group to the show, and is a Social Studies teacher at the school and longtime supporter of youth philately. He writes for the Global Stamp News and is a winner of American Philatelic Society’s E.A. Kehr Award for his work with the youth.

Welt explains that the annual trip to Boxborough is “the culminating activity of the year for the kids in the stamp club. I like to expose them to a stamp show and allow some of them to exhibit in the youth area. The show should be a positive experience for the youngsters…I seriously doubt that all 30 will remain lifelong stamp collectors, but I hope some will carry on or come back to the hobby later in life.”

This club members put in a dozen exhibits, and both girls and boys won prizes, including awards for exhibits on scouting, and wild animals.

The club has more girl members than boys and Welt feels that is because the 7th grade girls are generally more socially mature than boys of that age. He adds that many of the girls are also quite active in athletics.

Welt says the trip was very successful, the kids had a great time, and light traffic allowed them to get back in time for the Little League games!

BNAPS’ Youth Activity Program provides cash grants (and also free stamps) to school or junior stamp clubs and to youth activity shows at stamp shows. 37 cash grants have been issued in the past two years.

Children exiting bus at show	Fitch club member admiring exhibit by one of her friends

Boys looking at stamp items for sale at the show
The girls also provided business for the stamp dealers	The Fitch Middle School Stamp Club

 

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27 April 2008

YOUTH PHILATELIC PASSPORT

In 2007, BNAPS’ Youth Activity Program provided $325 in funding to Carol Edholm,  Executive Director of Youth Stamp Collectors. The funds were to pay for the printing of a “philatelic passport” she designed.  Carol was using these at the San Francisco WESTPEX APS show which I attended on April 27th. WESTPEX provides not only two tables for youth activities but also an adjacent room, where Carol was working with the kids. A BNAPS sign reflected our support.

The photos are of the front of the 4” X 7” booklet, and of two of the inside pages. The booklet has 39 pages for countries from Argentina to Zambia.  Carol has a large pile of stamps dedicated to this project, “seeded’ with at least 50 stamps from each targeted country.  Children search for stamps for each country and hinge them to the appropriate pages. Any child completing a booklet gets a prize. Since WESTPEX was fortunate to have first day ceremonies for a set of tropical fruit stamps, each qualifying child got a copy of one of these stamps with a first day cancel on the bottom half of the United States page.

The booklets were printed and stapled at Office Depot. This looks like an idea that other youth programs could adopt, and was a good use for BNAPS’ funding. Carol may be reached at youth.stamps@verizon.net for other details.

Norris (Bob) Dyer, BNAPS Youth Coordinator

16 November 2007

BNAPS Supports Youth at VICPEX 2007

19 October 2007

ESTABLISHING SCHOOL STAMP CLUBS

I also am in the process of writing a small book about how to establish and run a youth stamp club.

I would be happy to travel within the United States to set up and start a youth stamp club, with the proviso that there are at least two adult volunteers who will commit to continuing it.  I would not charge anything for travel except the cost of my lodging for one night and auto rental for one day - total about $80 - $120 depending on costs.  (I can travel by air for free, and I volunteer my time.)  The cost of initial supplies is approximately $150.00 per stamp club per year.  This provides one album per child for up to 125 students, 10,000 hinges, 30 pairs of tongs and 2000-3000 stamps. The most likely day that I can arrive is on a Thursday, with Friday being the day I will set up the stamp club.  I would need to know the names, phone numbers, and emails of the adult volunteers, as well as the phone number and name of the school principal. I would contact them about 30 days in advance. In other words, I would set up and get running a youth stamp club in your community in one month.  Naturally, during the Christmas break there will be a slightly longer delay.

Depending on your state law and local school district requirements, it may be necessary for the volunteers to be fingerprinted.  The school district may (or may not) do this for free. I have been already fingerprinted here in San Jose, CA.  Personally, I like the idea of making certain that any volunteer has been thoroughly "checked out." I also like to have a school employee present, if at all possible.  Often the librarian is present, because we hold the stamp club meetings in the library.

I welcome visitors to come to the stamp clubs I run.  Just feel free to drop in at the school office and sign in as a visitor any Tuesday or Wednesday. Phone first because occasionally I have to change the meeting dates for reasons given above.  (People who show up usually are "put to work" helping newer club members hinge stamps, or help with soaking stamps when we do that.)

Thank you very much for your grant.  BNAPS is the only organization that I am aware of that is doing this!

Robert Wayne Martin, Life Member APS # 11452

PO Box 3503
Saratoga, CA  95070-1503
Phone 408-848-8203 cell 408-893-1040  
Email taxman362@aol.com

23 June 2007

Dick Logan of the Ottawa Philatelic Society has reported on the Youth Booth at the Ottawa national show. 

The quality of the items given away to each young person was at a very high level and collecting interests were spread over the: ‘I want to start collecting stamps;’ ‘I want particular stamps;’ and ‘I would like to have someone help me with my collection.’

Once again, thank you very much for your kind assistance with the BNAPS grant. Please pass on our appreciation to all members of BNAPS.”

5 April 2007

Last year the new BNAPS Youth Activity Program issued 15 cash grants in support of youth philately. One of these grants was to Don Shorting to help pay expenses for a FDC contest in Greater Victoria schools. Don reports the contest, which started in the fall term, was a success. He had 92 entries from three elementary schools and one middle school. Each participant received a ribbon and a $1 philatelic item. The best three entrants from each school also got $10 philatelic items. This is an example of how our organization is helping generate interest in stamp collecting among our youth.

Entrants from the FDC Contest

 

14 March 2007