PALP Menu
PALP Isn't One Meeting. It's Nine Months of Doing.
From October through June, you'll move through leadership sessions, real-world experiences, community service, fundraising, project work, college, career and life preparation and chances to take on real responsibility.
Some of it happens together, some with your team, some in your community and some online. All of it gives you real practice.
- PALP runs October through June, with nine main Core sessions.
- Between sessions, you work on your Community Impact Project, campaigns and service.
- Short virtual check-ins and Hub tools help you stay on track.
- In May, you present your project. In June, you close out your record and plan your next step.
Start Here: What Happens After You Register?
If you're new to PALP, this is the clearest way to picture the year.
Complete registration, review the schedule and expectations with your family and start as a PALP Member.
Attend the kickoff, learn how PALP works, start building leadership skills, prepare for the campaign and begin finding a problem and forming your Community Impact Project team.
Complete the work for that stage of PALP: project tasks, outreach, service and campaign responsibilities, Hub tools, field experiences or short check-ins.
Bring back what happened. Get feedback, solve problems, practice the next skill and move your project and other responsibilities forward.
In May, present your Community Impact Project and defend your own contribution. In June, close out your verified record and your plan for what's next.
Completion and recognition are based on your full record of evidence, not attendance alone.
The Simple Version
PALP runs October through June: nine Core sessions, short virtual check-ins, real-world experiences, campaign work and a six-month Community Impact Project.
| Part of PALP | What it means |
|---|---|
| PALP Core | The main sessions where you learn, practice, make decisions, work with others and prepare for the next real challenge. |
| Real-World Experiences | Career, civic, community, money and life experiences where you use your skills outside a meeting. |
| Community Impact Project | A six-month team project with individual accountability, community input, real action, evidence, improvement and a May showcase and defense. |
| Campaign & Service | Real NVEEE and community responsibilities, including fundraising, outreach, designated experiences and verified service, not simulations. |
| Work Matched to Your Grade | The same PALP community, with next steps that differ for 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th Grade. |
| Hub Tools & Check-Ins | Digital resources and check-ins that help you prepare, complete real work and document evidence between Core sessions. |
The PALP Rhythm: Core → Do → Check → Bring It Back
Most of the year follows a repeating pattern. Not every month includes every step, but this is what you can expect.
Learn or practice the skill. Understand the assignment, the standard, the project checkpoint or the experience.
Use it in your project, campaign, service, outreach, field experience, grade-level task or leadership role.
Use Hub resources, project meetings, short virtual check-ins or staff guidance to solve problems and document progress.
Come back with evidence, results, questions and lessons. Revise, improve and move to the next stage.
Example: You practice professional outreach in a Core session → contact a real community partner for your project → document the response and ask for help if you get stuck → bring the result to your next project check-in.
Your October–June Journey
This is one continuous year, not nine separate events. Here's how it unfolds, month by month.
Start With You
Put Leadership to Work
Reset, Reflect & Cross Over
Relationships & Opportunity
Boundaries, Power & Course Correction
Civic Action & Public Leadership
Adulting & Finish Strong
Show What You Built
Launch What's Next
The Community Impact Project Runs Through the Year
Your Community Impact Project isn't a one-day service activity. It starts in October with finding a problem and moves through confirming the need, designing, launching, measuring, improving and wrapping up before the May showcase.
Your team works together, but your contribution is evaluated on its own. Attending a team meeting doesn't prove your contribution. You need evidence of the work you owned and completed.
Practicing a skill live is only the first step. The real work happens after.
You'll Learn Outside the Meeting Room
PALP includes designated experiences because some skills make more sense when you use them in the real world.
These include campaign events, career and mentoring access, civic experiences and practical life skills. Each one follows Prepare → Experience → Perform → Reflect.
You complete at least five designated NVEEE, partner or community experiences, or approved equivalents, during the year.
Yes, Fundraising Is Part of PALP
Because Leadership Includes Learning How to Ask People to Support a Mission.
Every PALP participant takes part in Give Miami Day fundraising, including students who live outside Florida.
It isn't just about raising money. You'll see how a nonprofit explains its mission, shows its impact, makes an ethical ask, follows up, works toward a goal and measures results.
If you live out of state, you participate online and through your own network; distance doesn't remove the requirement.
Same PALP. Different Grade.
You may share a leadership session with students in other grades, but your future-focused work matches where you are.
| Grade | Your focus |
|---|---|
| 9th | Adjusting to high school, building support, study habits, self-awareness, exploring and starting your record. |
| 10th | Independence, stronger critical thinking, skill-building, deeper contribution and connecting your interests to future options. |
| 11th | Researching colleges and programs, getting ready for opportunities, professional communication and preparing for the summer before senior year. |
| 12th | Applications, financial aid and scholarships, transition planning, professional readiness and real decisions about what's next. |
The same PALP community, a different next step depending on your grade.
The Hub Supports the Work Between Sessions
You won't be expected to remember everything from a meeting or figure out every process from scratch.
The NVEEE Empowerment & Success Hub gives you tools, templates, lessons and resources connected to the work you're doing, from research and project management to résumés, interviews, professional communication, critical thinking, checking AI and adult-life decisions.
The Hub isn't a second program full of random homework. You use its resources when they help you prepare for, complete or document real PALP work.
What Participation Actually Requires
PALP isn't a show-up-and-get-credit program.
Attendance matters, but it isn't completion. See Cost & Registration for every requirement.
Missed something? Approved absences and documented conflicts have recovery steps, and a make-up must match what you missed. PALP is built for busy students: it mixes shared sessions with short check-ins and project work instead of long extra meetings.
What If You Don't Live in South Florida?
Same Standard. Different Delivery.
You can participate in PALP from outside South Florida.
When an activity is offered virtually, you join virtually. In-person experiences happen where you can attend them.
If you can't reasonably attend a South Florida-only experience, NVEEE may approve an equivalent with similar time, responsibility, interaction and evidence.
↓ Same Evidence Standard ↓
Participating remotely isn't the easier version of PALP. Fundraising, Community Impact Project work, contribution, leadership practice, deadlines and evidence standards still apply.
Leadership Can Grow During the Year
You start PALP as a PALP Member. From there, your record grows based on what you actually do.
You can earn the Peace Ambassador title, take on leadership roles and, if invited, enter the Junior Counselor in Training pathway.
You don't need a title to practice leadership, and no title is given just for registering or attending.
How the Year Ends
May is the big finish. Your Community Impact Project team presents what it built, and you defend your own contribution. You also use evidence from the year to show how your leadership has grown.
June is the official close. You finish accountability and transition requirements, confirm your verified record and move from planning your next step to taking it.
Completion is based on your full record of evidence, not attendance alone.
Have Questions?
Every PALP question and answer now lives on one page, organized by topic.
What PALP Students Say
“PALP has truly allowed me to become a better version of myself. With all the workshops and guidance they provide, I always feel like I am working toward achieving success.”
★★★★★Rated 5 stars in more than 90 reviews on GreatNonprofits
Ready to See Where the Year Can Take You?
Start with your grade, review the schedule and expectations and decide whether you're ready to participate, not just enroll.