Community Together Presentation

Program: Community Together
Sub-programs: Youth Cypher, Supporting Our Youth (SOY), Family Extension
Group: Veronica, Amirah, Brandy, Sweet
Type: After School, Youth & Family Program
Hours:
~Main Site: M-Sat 10:00 am to 7:00 pm, Sun TBA (depending on event)
~Site Locations: M-F 12:30 pm to 6:30 pm

Mission Statement: To provide supportive services for entire families by educating, engaging and empowering young people and adults through culture, relationship, leadership, skill, and community building to become self-sufficient and advocates

Also included pictures of group during presentation.

Sports Haven Presentation

Program: Safe Haven
Group: Andrea & Felicia
Type: After School Program
Hours: M-F 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm, Sat/Sun 10:00 am to 7:00 pm

Mission Statement: Provide children and youth with opportunities to develop physically, emotionally, and socially; a safe place in which to develop physical fitness skills that fester high self-esteem; and opportunities for peer mentoring

Also included pictures of group during presentation.

OLEC Presentation

Program: Oakland Life Skills Education Career Center (OLEC)
Group: Will, Fatima, John, Cindy
Type: Youth Program
Hours: M-F 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, Sat/Sun 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Mission Statement: To empower all youth of different backgrounds to succeed in life and overcome life obstacles through education, career, and life coaching. Empowerment. Independence. Stability. Resiliency.

Also included pictures of group during presentation.

Reality Works Presentation

Program: Reality Works
Slogan: Walking Into The Real World
Group: Nicole, Adawnus, Precious, Tonisha
Type: After School Program
Hours: 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm
Ages: 14-18

Mission Statement: To provide a safe, nurturing space where students are given both tools and access necessary to be successful in the academic area while exposing them to multicultural awareness, career and personal planning, growth and development, communication/work place relationship and ethics, also fitness experiences that build resiliency ad independence skills for successful people for a better life

Also included pictures of group during presentation.

Wellness 4 Youth Presentation

Program: Wellness 4 Youth
Group: Cathy, George, & Tiffany
Type: After School Program
Hours: 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Mission Statement: To provide low income youth with opportunities who are in high risk areas so they will obtain valuable information needed to thrive.

We want to give children a place where they can learn how to make a healthy meal, a safe place to spend their ASP hours, a place of physical safety and learn the importance of staying in shape!

In the same way, promoting positive, healthy lifestyles which helps meet their developmental needs as well as maturity.

Also included pictures of group during presentation.

Day 13: Wednesday, July 21, 10

Agenda:

• Youth Participation Reflection Exercise
• 5 Minute Paper
• Break
• Key Concepts
• Interview Assignment
• Locating Opportunities

Personal Reflection: Youth Participation

1. What kinds of choices were available to you?
2. What were you responsible for?
3. What things could you do without adult direction?
4. What kinds of things did you and your peers decide?
5. Were you encouraged to practice independence?

5 Minute Paper:
Refer to Personal Reflection Exercise- Answer those questions above based on your own experience between the ages of 9-17.

Group Discussion:
Refer back to Personal Youth Participation Reflection

Questions we addressed:

Q1: Why might it be important for young people to have input into decisions that affect them?
Q2: How might they grow if they are allowed to take responsibility for fulfilling their own needs and guiding some of their own actions?
*Answers: Refer to Key Concepts (nice overview to these questions)

☆  Key Concepts: from Chapter 5 Fostering Meaningful Youth Participation in CNYD Youth Development Guide

☆ What is Meaningful Youth Participation?
Youth are:

• empowered to be self-directed
• making responsible choices
• understanding how to use time
• making influential decisions
• developing leadership skills
• receiving a sense of belonging
• seeing teachers as FACILITATORS

☆ Why is Meaningful Youth Participation Important?/How Do You Know If Your Program is Fostering Meaningful Youth Participation?

• give opportunities for youth growth
• keeping clear and consistent programming
• youth are partners
• adults use youth
• youth voice = value= opportunities to share= build strong relationships
• youth are empowered
• benefits: attendance/interest goes up= time spent disciplining goes down; overcome risks and obstacles
• "what you think and do matters"

☆ Fostering Meaningful Youth Participation in Your ASP
Staff must:

• have planning time and put thought into work
• obtain and master the skill to shift from "authority" to "facilitator"
• trade off the leadership: give the youth a little control to assist with learning new skills and leadership
• discuss issues/situations and be open to new strategies

Meaningful Youth Participation (more info):
creates trust between youth/child and adults
skills are being obtained by the youth such as self-reliance, leadership (age appropriate), problem solving amongst themselves


Youth Participation w/ Adult Support & Change Over Time

• don't have to ignore the rules to get youth to participate
• guide from a distance
• acknowledge the students over time- "no fading" aka do not miss or look over silent students 

Styles of Participation and Leadership

• youth as apprentices
• cascading= "see one, do one, teach one" aka youth see it done, do it themselves, then shows someone else how to do it
• don't stick to one teaching style or teach one style of learning; acknowledge different styles
• give youth titles (brings about confidence, power etc.)

☆Organizational Practices that Support Meaningful Youth Participation

• youth are decision makers/program planners
• be flexible with available resources (realistic and honest)
• provide "sensible space"
• low youth: staff ratio= the more students the less opportunity for assistance
• evaluations about the program by youth
• ongoing training and check-ins for staff

☆REMAINING KEY CONCEPTS WILL BE GIVEN FIRST THING IN CLASS TOMORROW!


☆Last Thought(s):
Think about a youth mind when every institution they're involved in gives them no choice:

• "No one is listening to me anyway"
• Low self-esteem
• shut down
• silent students: can give extra attention within reason, let them be the time being, always be consistent

Right Based versus Deficit: Right base has action, guidance, and gives empowerment usually involves choice. Deficit does not give "choice" in the manner we speak of


Reflection Paper #5 Due Tomorrow (Thurs, July 22, 10)


Family/Community Interview Due Tomorrow (Thurs, July 22, 10)

Day 12: Tuesday, July 20, 10

Agenda:

• Conflict Intervention
• Break
• Reflection(s)
• What is Youth Participation?

Conflict Intervention: trying to turn a negative situation into a positive situation

• usually a situation/conflict that would need intervening by an adult/staff member
• must come up with a scenario where an adult would need to intervene to solve the problem
• in scenario each group member be a youth/child between ages 5-18 (no adults)
• develop a skit that plays out the scenario and a volunteer from the audience is the adult that tries to intervene to solve the problem

Adult Intervention Questions Debrief:

1. What did the adult do to help the situation?
2. How did the adult feel (before, during, after)?
3. What else could the adult have done to help each young person feel safer?

Group 1: "He's My Man!"- Ages: 14-17; Number of Youth: 4; Conflict: Two young girls fight concerning "Dennis" being their boyfriends; the other two youth had taken the side of either young ladies and instigated the problem from a far... While the ladies fight, has Dennis flees the scene?

Group 2: "They Won't Let Me Play!"- Ages: 6-7; Number of Youth: 4; Conflict: It's recess time! Two students are playing catch, one student is jump roping, and the other wants to play with the ball catchers. The student asks if she can play with the ball catchers and the boy says "No" then the other jump rope students comes over to ask also... then the water works and cootie calling begins!

Group 3: "Habla Ingles!"- Ages: 13-14 (7th grade); Number of Youth: 4; Conflict: Two Spanish speaking girls come out of class discussing that another student got an A in their class and are thinking about asking her to help them (conversation is all in Spanish). The A Student's friend overhears and instigates the situation; not knowing what the Spanish Speaking girls said she approaches them with a bad attitude... Que?

Group 4: "Forget Yo MP3!"- Ages: 13-14: Number of Youth: 3; Conflict: One student is giving a "Show and Tell" presentation to the class about his MP3, while the other two students are talking during his presentation and being disrespectful. The presenter becomes upset and starts an even more ruckus and the youth get into a loud verbal battle... No MP3s were hurt during this presentation...