Supporting and Connecting Schools
and Community
Youth Development Group Leaders: Yvonne Lopez-Morton (Spokane Public Schools) and Sally Pritchard (United Way of Spokane County)
Goals:
- Improve integration and collaboration of services with schools and community and provide on-going professional
development related to collaboration.
- Align after school programs with community-based organizations' goals and outcomes.
- Integrate and develop partners within the local diverse community.
- Create a cooperative agreement for access to free facilities use
- Increase family utilization of community and school resources.
Current Activities:
- Youth and Community Specialists have been hired and are currently implementing youth development programming in all project middle schools during after school hours. Programming includes youth development activities in addition to leadership activities, homework help, science and math enrichment and a variety of literacy activities.
- On-going training and professional development regarding youth development and culturally responsive programming has been provided through workshops and bi-monthly staff meetings.
- Youth development partners have been identified and efforts are on-going to provide diverse youth activities for students during after school hours. (Please refer to Partners link on the Safe Schools, Healthy Students Initiative home page.)
- Community partners recently met with a panel of Native-American students to gain input in creating youth activities that will be more inviting for diverse youth and to gain understanding of diverse and Native-American youth needs.
- Community partners are currently meeting with Leaders of Color within the community to better understand barriers that exist for youth of color within the schools and community agencies which prevent participation. Through this process, the community hopes to invite and gain an increased collaboration of diverse partners. Two additional diverse partners have rejoined the community partners group; both the Native Project-Teen Peace and Odyssey Youth Center are now attending meetings.
- The creation of a cooperative agreement for access to free facilities use has been somewhat resolved through use agreements and service contracts between agencies and schools. More work remains to be done in this area.
Meeting Minutes
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