Service 2-West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network
Objective: To develop leadership skills in adults in West Virginia
Objective: To develop WV youths into responsible leaders of their state, the country, and the world.
Background/Rationale/Preparation
The West Virginia Statewide Afterschool Network (WVSAN) was established by state agencies and afterschool personnel throughout West Virginia with the purpose to create and sustain a statewide partnership that raises the awareness of the importance and accessibility of high quality “out-of-school time” programs for all school age children. West Virginia state agencies work within their own spheres of influence and need opportunities to communicate and collaborate with each other around central
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It remains vital for the state to take an active role to ensure quality out-of-school programs because of the results that are garnered by the students’ participation in these programs. Research indicates youth who are not involved in activities after school are three times more likely to choose unhealthy behaviors such as participating in juvenile crime. (YMCA of the USA, 2001)
Most parents and community members do not understand the importance of quality afterschool and out-of-school programs for their children. Therefore, the WVSAN continues to play an important role in educating communities about the role of afterschool in ensuring that our youth are safe and prosperous in school and life. Moving from the perception of being merely tutoring and homework help, afterschool programs are an opportunity for youth to become engaged and choose programs that interest and motivate
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Afterschool Program Standards for West Virginia have been developed and adopted by the WVSAN at the May 2013 meeting. These standards are a voluntary guidance on effective practice. They incorporate basic safeguards for safety, health and nutrition. Additionally, the guide provides standards for administration, programming, staffing and professional development as well as community, family, and school relationships. The standards align with the WV Out –of-School Time Program Requirements and the West Virginia Child Care Center Licensing Rules and are applicable to program serving multi-age groups of school-age children in a wide variety of
The United States is no stranger to crime, unfortunately there has been an increased amount of criminal activity in the city of Columbus. The most drastic increase in criminal activity has been among teens as young as thirteen, and are usually commited during after school hours. The city of Columbus has made attempts to be proactive in reducing the crime rate in with little success. Many residents believe that increased punishment for adolescent crimes is the proper measure that needs to be taken. While, many other residents believe that parents should be held responsible for their children’s after school care. The average working adult in Columbus usually works on the average of at least forty hours a week to maintain an average lifestyle. With fifty-five percent of children living in a single parent household with a single income, it is near impossible for many of these parents to be able to not only supervise their children at all times, but afford care in most cases. This is a cry for help the city of Columbus should invest in an increase of free after school programs for children ages thirteen and older.
“When schools, parents, families, and communities work together to support learning, students tend to earn higher grades, attend school more regularly, stay in school longer, and enroll in higher level programs.” (Van Roeckel, 2008, p. 1) Deer Valley High School in Glendale, AZ is the first high school built in the Deer Valley Unified Scholl District, and with a population around 1800 students, the high school is one of the bigger schools in the state. It has a tradition of family on its’ campus, where there are still teachers teaching that were there when the school opened in 1980. A number of former students have become new teachers on campus and just about all the teachers’ children have attended and graduated from the campus. With a school like ours, there are many connections to the community around it and it is demonstrated by the programs that bring in parent and community to help with the development of our students. There are numerous booster clubs run on our campus to help support student achievement on the sports fields, a school to work programs to teach the students necessary skills in different areas of either nursing, sports medicine classes, and in the culinary arts classrooms, and funding to our school to help ensure all students graduate on time. There are many programs on our campus, but I will discuss four of the programs: baseball booster club, C2G program, “school-to-work”, and the special education program sponsored by Arrowhead Hospital. These programs are designed to improve the relationships between the campus and the people in the community, and give all students on campus every opportunity to succeed in their future.
At the end of my junior year of high school I was told that I was chosen, along with one other junior boy, to be a primary delegate to attend Badger Boys State, a week long youth program at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin that brings more than eight hundred and fifty boys together to learn about leadership and the United States Government. Although only one week of my life, I can confidently say that Badger Boys State is one of the best and most significant experiences I have ever had.
Detroit is a story of a once flourishing city that has been on a long downslide for decades. There are miles of unoccupied homes and buildings, and crimes and unemployment are at an all-time high. Many aspects of the city are breaking down, including the school system. The Detroit Public School System has lost over eighty thousand students due to high enrollment in charter schools, the large economic decline, and the departure of residents. For many years no one has taken responsibility for the public school system. However, for Detroit to rise again, it is necessary for someone to take responsibility, make a plan, and make sure that children are safe, well cared for, and are receiving a high quality education when going to school each day. In 2016, schools are low-performing with poor test scores, are falling apart, and teachers and parents have decided to take a stand.
We expect that this program will decrease office referrals and suspensions, increase attendance, and increase the number of students participating in service learning at a statistically significant level. In addition, we expect that Parent-Teacher Association attendance and parental awareness of good character will increase. Also, we anticipate an increase in involvement in schools of the faith and business communities, a fusing of character and religious teachings within the faith community, and an increase in the in-kind and financial support of the schools from the business and social community.
Endless Outreach will network with local schools that have a high number of at-risk students. Provide services such as academic coaching and alternative to suspension programs. The non-profit will also provide training school staff on how to deal with at-risk youth, uninspired students, and how to lower gang activity in the schools. With a firm belief that it takes a village to raise a child, our organization will incorporate the family of the students and as well as school staff to create a plan for success so that the student understand the amount of support he or she has. Endless Outreach understands that much of a child’s problems begin at home. Therefore we will assist parents with employment training, free credit repair and budgeting, and help them receive family counseling from other local agencies in the community.
At this time, I became a group leader in an after-school program for a 3rd-grade class. This was my first time working with children and as imagined, it was a tough transition. The students were Latino and African American, living in poverty stricken neighborhoods with a dysfunctional home life. The program focused on students who were at risk of retention. A large number of students were below average and had been recommended to receive extra academic support. As a result of my time spent working and learning with the students, I choose an educational path.
Although in-school retention is a goal of vocational education programs targeted to at-risk youth, it is not the most significant outcome. Data from the evaluation of a 3-year demonstration program funded by the Carl Perkins Vocational Education Act reflects a broader perspective on program success. In summarizing the outcomes of the 12 evaluated projects, Hayward and Tallmadge (1995) report that only 4 of the 12 showed a significant reduction in numbers of dropouts. The most successful outcome was the improved school performance of program participants. Ten of the 12 projects showed an increase in students grade point averages; 7 of the 12 showed a reduction in number of courses failed.
Money will not solve or make this problem go away, no matter how many social workers are hired. Schools will succeed despite their financial circumstances if they have the basic components of motivated students, parent support, caring teachings, and strong central leadership. While this is the typical model of a suburban school system, Wilson High School proves that it can work anywhere. When ones thinks of urban public schools, overcrowded classes, underpaid teachers, and a lack of resources often come to mind. The fact is these problems can happen anywhere. While the environment at Kennedy could never be compared to the worst DC high school, the assumptions made against these schools are the same. By erasing these notions and confronting the problems one by one, we will be one step closer to reaching equal education for all.
Social control can either be informal (parents etc.) or formal (police etc.) and without these controls, juveniles become more susceptible to delinquency (Shaw,McKay,1942). In the city of Erie, there are a lot of neighborhoods in which are breaking down, especially the one around the Boys and Girls club. On my last day at the Boys and Girls club, a young girl was jumped just a few blocks down from the center; she was just walking home. The city of Erie itself has pocket communities of poverty which are in close proximity to communities which are more prosperous. From others who I had talked to at the club, those who worked their often had to deal with parents who did not care, were not around, or were negative influences in the child’s life. A few of the older kids at the Boys and Girls club had been involved with gangs, drug abuse and selling, and have been effected in some way by the violence in the low income neighborhoods they lived in. Staff had notified me that sometimes the programs in which the schools or juvenile
In a survey conducted by the Mott Foundation and J.C. Penny, people were asked to express their feelings of after-school programs. The results show the 92 percent of the respondents believed that there should be...
My internship hours consisted of 300 hours at Nicolet and Lincoln Elementary in Green Bay, Wisconsin, 150 hours at West De Pere Middle School, in West De Pere, Wisconsin, and 150 at East High School in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Nicolet has approximately 489 students, 94 % are economically disadvantaged, with a demographic of 52% Hispanic, 19% White, 16% Black, 7% American Indian, 6% Asian, and approximately 14% Special Education students. Lincoln has approximately 225 students, 80% are economically disadvantaged, with a demographic of 44% White, 18% Black, 18% Asian, 12% Hispanic, 5% American Indian, 3% Asian, and approximately 20% Special Education students.
A false sense of security exists as one of the disadvantages of teenage curfews. Parents assume that when they force their children home at a certain time, they will not participate in anything immoral, but that is not always true. The Aspen Education Group states, “While a teenager staying out late can cause issues, it’s important not to use a curfew as a general answer to these possible problems” (Hatter 1). In realization, if teenagers obtain the desire to involve themselves in corrupt acts, they will find a way to do so no matter the time. Teenagers would feel more pressured to sneak out if their friends were participating in something that they could not be a part of due to their curfew. If parents rely on curfews to protect their children from negative activities, they will eventually notice teenagers contain their own willpower (Hatter 1).
Teens today face a lot of pressure. Many students deal with difficult life situations that hinder them from focusing on their futures. This can lead to a loss of interest in school and school events, such as a sports, clubs, or after school programs. Teens start to prioritize other things over their education. Every year, over 1.2 million students will leave school without earning a high school diploma in the United States alone (“11”). That’s a student every 26 seconds – or 7,000 a day (“11”). The United States, which used to have the highest graduation rates of any country, now ranks 22nd out of 27 developed countries (“11”). Students may not realize that by dropping out of high school they are more likely to commit crimes, become parents at a young age, use and abuse alcohol and drugs, and live in poverty (“Drop”). Dropouts make up the majority of those
Rizzolo, Allison. "PUBLICAGENDA.ORG - Survey: Sports, Arts, Clubs, Volunteering -- Out-of-School Activities Play Crucial, Positive Role for Kids." Survey: Sports, Arts, Clubs, Volunteering -- Out-of-School Activities Play Crucial, Positive Role for Kids. Public Agenda, 16 Nov. 2004. Web. 5 Mar. 2014