Metropolitan Youth Program

The Metropolitan Youth Program (MYP) was founded in 1986 by a group of individuals who were concerned about the lack of educational ambition, positive role models and access to meaningful leisure time activities for disadvantaged youth in the Metropolitan Quad City Area.

The primary goal of the MYP is to assist children and adolescents to build a positive sense of self-worth and set significant yet realistic scholastic and personal goals. These goals are achieved through a number of different activities such as Precision Drill Team & Drum Corps, Metro Youth Choir, Summer/Fall Junior Achievement Company, Junior Photography Program, Jr. Soccer Program, 3rd &4th Grade Basketball League, MYP Tutorial Program and the Computer Familiarization Program.

“Once we reach them, we can teach them” is the foundation of the MYP. The targeted age group is 7-20 years old and the main activity which serves as the “kid attractor” is the precision drill team & drum corps. This activity served as the group’s initial undertaking and started with 17 young people; today it numbers more than 150 youth members. The Metro Choir consists of 40 youth members enrolled and the Junior Soccer Program has 30 members. The Summer/Fall Junior Achievement Company has 18 young people and the Junior Basketball League has 12 young people enrolled.

It is from the aforementioned activities that the entire youth membership is steered into personal self-development and scholastic activities such as the tutorial and computer basics training as well as seminars covering positive thinking, goal setting, self-esteem, leadership, problem solving, personal hygiene, etc., which are offered on a continuous basis. A major portion of the future programming will be dedicated to preparing our youth for college and identifying sources of college scholarship opportunities.

The MYP operates solely on donated time and dollars. The staff of volunteers donated approximately 63,000 contact hours to youth members in 1997. To date, fund raising projects and donations have provided income for operating expenses.

A large part of the organization’s success is due to the unique relationship between the youth members and the adult role models that has been built over the past 12 years. These adult role models teach the youth members to set goals, both personal and scholastic, and strive to reach their greatest potential. By enhancing their overall development, the young people have come to realize that the key to a brighter future is in their hands.

The MYP provides the Quad Cities community with 10 activities that are designed to give young people a sense of belonging. Subsequently, with belonging comes responsibility, which is enhanced by accomplishment and achievement.

Throughout the Midwest, 28 communities have asked The Metropolitan Youth Program to aid their communities. Last year, Clinton and Burlington started youth groups. Clinton has 20 youth and Burlington 80. Prembrook, IL will start later this year.

Patti Puckett

For the last six years, Patti Puckett has spent her Saturdays tutoring, mentoring and expanding the horizons of at-risk elementary school students in Atlanta, GA through the Hands On Atlanta Discovery Program. Through her volunteer efforts and her full-time job as an education reporter for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Patti is fully aware of the challenges facing urban schools in Georgia today.

The Discovery Program is a model educational initiative that boosts the aspirations and self-confidence of students through a multi-faceted, volunteer-led program. The program strives to show students the importance of education and to broaden their horizons. Through their participation, volunteers see first-hand the challenges facing schools and the needs of students in low-income communities. Two or more times a month, interactive tutoring sessions are held in 10 schools for students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grades. Volunteer leaders serve as school captains and grade captains. A school captain fills the role of the principal for the day, taking responsibility for logistics of the program and discipline matters. Grade captains plan enrichment activities for specific grade levels engaging volunteers while educating students.

Patti’s commitment to bettering the education of these students is reflected in her dedication to this program. She has held every leadership and volunteer role possible in the program. She consistently provides extra support for the organization and the program. When the principal threatened to discontinue Discovery over lack of organization, Patti became the school captain. When no one knew what to do with the kids over the summer, she replicated the swim program from another Discovery school. When her co-captains resigned mid-year, she made sure she was there every Saturday and when the program manager found herself overwhelmed, Patti took on some of her responsibilities as well. She single-handedly coordinated a portion of the Discovery Conference involving reading specialists while running a Summer Discovery Swimming Program.

In addition to her volunteer efforts, Patti is a spokesperson for the needs of the students she educates. She welcomes other reporters through her work to join her for a Discovery session, exposing them to the needs of the schools and the opportunities for the community to give back. She shows them a need and a solution.

The principal at Whitefoord Elementary School remarks, “I think the thing that stands out the most about Patti is the consistency of her commitment to the students at Whitefoord.”

Child-Family Mentor Program

The Child-Family Mentor Program (CFMP) addresses the goal of providing caring adults in a child’s life. Started in 1994, the CFMP is based on the belief that “it takes a community to raise a child.” Thirty-eight percent of the children in Adams County, IL live in poverty, putting them in at-risk situations.

The school district served by CFMP has a 25% dropout rate. In a 1996 survey of the dropouts from the previous five years, the first reason given as to why they dropped out was academic failure, followed by never feeling connected with the school. By providing one-on-one attention, which gives the students better opportunities to succeed and build their self-confidence, CFMP is helping students graduate and be productive adults in the community.

A CFMP mentor is a concerned, caring individual who spends quality one-on-one time with a deserving, needy student for approximately 30 to 60 minutes once a week at the child’s school. The mentor is a dependable role model, someone to care for and be interested in the child. The mentor enhances the learning that takes place in the classroom by working to increase the student’s interest in learning and help develop the child’s social skills.

CFMP started in the 1994-95 school year with 58 students, 48 mentors and 32 participating teachers. Now in its third year, 119 CFMP mentors work with 195 students and 80 participating teachers. Eighty-one percent of students worked on reading with their mentor, 91% of them have reported an increase in their reading instructional levels. Classroom teachers reported other successes of the program, including that 74% smile more frequently, 63% display more self-confidence, 46% display more self-esteem and 43% participate more in classroom activities.

CFMP is funded by the Quincy Foundation for Quality Education, which raises local monies to fund programs to enrich and enhance the quality of education.

Martha Sandven Lock

Children in Kansas City continue to die violently, experiment with drugs and alcohol, suffer from neglect and face other issues like homelessness and incarceration. In the first six months of 1998, 19 teen-agers were murdered in Kansas City. Sixty-two percent of high schools seniors drink alcohol at least once a month. Eighteen percent of eighth-graders reported using marijuana at least once a month. These incidents are not unique to Kansas City, but Kansas City does have a unique response in Martha Sandven Lock, founder and artistic director of Chameleon Theatre Company.

In September 1995, Martha began Chameleon Theatre Company as a project of the Community Children’s Theatre. Martha envisioned Chameleon as a theater company that would help young people in the Kansas City metropolitan community deal with the severe problems and issues they face very day. In the three years since the founding of Chameleon, Martha has been a tireless driving force toward achieving that vision.

Chameleon Theatre Company provides programs for Kansas City’s youth and families by originating and creating productions on social issues of concern to the community. Martha designed a creative process where children help to create plays, critique productions and generate ideas for new works. Since Martha began Chameleon in 1995, original main stage productions on violence prevention, drugs, teen pregnancy, self-esteem and truancy have served over 10,000 young people.

Martha, a talented playwright and director, is a role model, mentor and friend for the young people she works with. In 1997, Martha worked with a group of students from Southwest Academy in Kansas City, to write “Accept Nothing Less,” a rap opera about urban youth overcoming the odds and reaching for success. One young lady in the group was such a poor student and missed so much school that the principal punished her by removing her from the project. Martha personally went to the principal and asked that the young woman be allowed to continue on the project. She felt that working on the project would make a difference in the girl’s life.

It did. The girl is now a high school sophomore and an excellent student. Before she met and worked with Martha, her teachers all said she would drop out of school as soon as she could. Now she is planning on attending college. This is just one example of the hundreds of lives Martha has touched.

Even though Martha is supposed to be paid a stipend for her work with Chameleon, the organization has lacked the funds to pay her. But Martha, because she knows that what she is doing is good for the children, continues to work more than 60 hours a week serving the youth of Kansas City.

Dane Dugan

Dane Dugan is not only an outstanding role model for young people, but has a level of volunteer activity involvement and commitment to social problems and to youth issues is unsurpassed by most people his age. Much of his ability to get things done in his community and remain so motivated can be attributed to his intrepid optimism.

“I like to look for the positive things that I can do instead of focusing on the negative because I know that hope and spirit are crucial elements of an effective leader,” says Dane, “I see failure as one of the best learning experiences for anyone. With every failure there is another lesson learned and with every lesson comes more knowledge and skills to share with other.”

Dane is involved in many activities that seek to meet community needs and find solutions to problems. He developed and oversees, along with a teacher-advisor, a program in his high school called Youth in Action. The group’s mission is “to analyze the needs of the community and school and to work on how it can better meet the changing, diverse needs of youth.” This group, founded two years ago, teaches elementary school children about agriculture and its importance to Montana and the nation. Youth in Action received a grant to carry out classroom instruction.

Dane has also been a key player in organizing the 1999 county-wide Teen Issues Conference. In addition, he was a youth delegate to the Montana Governor’s Summit on Youth in June 1998. As a result of the summit, a committee, of which Dane is a part, has been meeting to make plans for the 1999 youth-led conference to be attended by youth from all over Ravalli county to discuss the needs of young people in this area. Dane has been both a motivating and driving force in making this event a reality.

Dane is heavily involved in and deeply committed to the 4-H program, on county, state and national levels. He is a Montana 4-H Ambassador, which means he is responsible for promoting 4-H statewide. Dane’s activities as an Ambassador are extensive and include giving presentations to schools in Ravalli county about 4-H, working with local newspapers to highlight outstanding 4-H members, preparing and distributing a county newsletter highlighting activities, coordination of National 4-H Week activities and conducting a project to supply local underprivileged children with coats for Christmas. He was the teen director for 4-H Camp this past summer, as well as the co-chair for the 1998 Montana 4-H Rec Lab. He, along with only 4 other Montana youth, was selected to attend the 1998 National 4-H Conference in Washington, D.C. and is a member of 4-H Community Service Consulting Group. Furthermore, Dane was the initiator of the Ravalli County Teen Council, which works on youth issues county-wide, and has received a number of community service awards including the following: Stevensville Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award and the Horatio Alger-Lewis Feinstein Enriching America Award.

Dane is also involved in a number of non-4-H activities. These include: Youth in Action, a student led education group that he started, Ravalli County Teen Summit, Stevensville High School student government, soccer, Montana Teens Institute, and the Getting Things Done (Ravalli County Volunteer Resource Organization) Youth Board.

The Earl Estwick, Sr. Trailblazer Memorial Fund

The Earl L. Estwick, Sr., Trailblazer Memorial Fund, Inc., was incorporated in New York State as a non-profit corporation in December 1994 and was given full 501(c)3 status as mandated by the U. S. Department of Internal Revenue in December 1995. The Trailblazer Memorial Fund was founded by Mrs. Ruth Estwick and her son, Dr. Earl L. Estwick, Jr., as a tribute to the late Earl L. Estwick, Sr., who passed away in September 1993.

As a memorial and tribute to Earl L. Estwick, Sr., the Trailblazer Memorial Fund was established with the purpose to encourage young people to be successful in their academic studies and to make contributions to their communities. The Fund awards college scholarships to aid deserving academically eligible youth attain their higher educational goals.

The Trailblazer Memorial Fund realizes that higher education is of utmost importance to society’s future and that a high school diploma is not adequate to help today’s youth become successful productive citizens. Specifically, they state that, “Society and economy is changing every day; high technology, corporate skills problem identification, problem solving and communication skills demand that we have a work force ready to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.”

The Trailblazer Memorial Fund provides the guidance and financial resources to enable young people to pursue higher education no matter their financial situation. The program is disseminated to all Queens County high schools through the schools’ guidance office.

The entire staff operates strictly as a hands-on volunteer team, depending solely on contributions from private individuals and the corporate sector for funding. All contributions are solely for scholarships and operating expenses.

The student selection committee looks for students possessing exemplary character, good values and academic excellence. The students supply references, proof of economic need and a statement about why they chose a particular area of study and what contributions they plan to make to society.

Thanks to the Trailblazer Memorial Fund, deserving students have gone on to attend schools such as Harvard University, Rutgers University, Queens College, Hofstra University, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University and Morehouse College.

Martha Dubuque

Martha Dubuque is an elementary school teacher in the rural town of Hardwick, VT. Martha saw a need to develop connections between the community and the school because she felt the children would benefit from knowing adults who regard learning and goal setting as valuable, lifelong practices. These ideals led to the founding of the Hardwick Elementary School Mentorship Program. Martha is the founder and coordinator of this valuable program.

Hardwick is a community where tremendous social and economic challenges exist. Twenty-on percent of Hardwick children live in poverty and 51% of children at the elementary school qualify for free or reduced hot lunches. Many children experience conditions at home that make it difficult for them to be successful in school. The child abuse rate in Hardwick is 16% higher than the rest of the county. Even in homes where abuse does not occur, the value of education is not always modeled—28% of adult Hardwick residents do not have high school diplomas.

Now in its fourth year, the program serves the entire sixth grade class of 47 students. Over 25 adults come to school several times every month to provide support and encouragement to the students. The main focus of the mentorship is to support the student’s academic goals. Each student works on mastering 21 Sixth Grade Outcomes. These outcomes are skills and behaviors needed to be successful in the classroom and the job market. Mentors meet with the students individually or in groups of two to three to review the goals and provide encouragement and ideas for overcoming obstacles to school success. Mentors also work with students as they explore future career options. This work is vitally important since it is the only time in elementary school that the students have an opportunity to plan for careers.

A remarkable feature of the program is that it had no funding for the first three years. Martha donated—and continues to donate—her time to organize the mentorship program. Mentors also donate their time without any reimbursement. This year, the school received a modest school-to-work grant from the Lamoille Business Education and Trade Alliance. The grant allowed mentors to take the children on outings to area restaurants and to the local bookstore, where they had to opportunity to choose books for themselves.

Aviano Air Base Mentor Program

While geographically separated from the U.S., middle and high school students at Aviano Air Base are not immune to the issues facing young people today. In fact, these students have more limited support networks than their counterparts on the mainland. Responding to this need, in April 1997, the 31st Fighter Wing and Department of Defense Schools at Aviano Air Force Base created an innovative mentoring program that focuses on enhancing students’ academic ability, career development and provides additional support networks that are otherwise unavailable.

The Base recruited more than enough mentors to work one-on-one with an individual student throughout the school year. The trained mentors are matched with a young person based on the student’s career interest areas. A self-sustaining community, the Base is able to recruit from a volunteer pool representing hundreds of career fields. Mentors volunteered more than 700 hours with students in the 1997-98 academic year, taking part in activities such as job shadowing, science experiments, college/career research, homework assignments, computer-aided design projects for base facilities, career fairs and summer employment opportunities. While active duty military mentors receive time off from work to serve as mentors, they receive no monetary compensation.

The Aviano mentors have had a great impact on the students. Parents, teachers and mentors note increased self-confidence in 90% of students with mentors. Students agree—86% say they feel better about themselves since they began participating in the Mentor Program. Academic achievement improved in 86% of students with mentors, report parents. Truancy incidents declined in 75% of students matched with a mentor and 88% of students say that they skip school less, teachers report. Career field knowledge and interest in attending college increased in nearly every student who participated in the Mentor Program.

Shirley Brown

Shirley Brown is making the difference for young people in the Fort Bend Independent School District (ISD) community by helping students meet the volunteer requirements for college entrance. More importantly, she is leading young people to the understanding that volunteering is as important as work, family and other personal responsibilities.

Her lessons include the fact that we all have a responsibility to give back of one’s energy, talent and personal resources and that true change begins with one person. Neighbors helping neighbors is the theme that frames Ms. Brown’s program, Youth Expanding Service (YES!), which was developed in 1996.

During the 1996-1997 school year, Ms. Brown, a foreign language teacher at Clements High School, created YES! The YES! program was designed to encourage Fort Bend ISD students to engage in voluntary service at the local level and to provide them with opportunities that “make a difference” in an atmosphere where it is easy and “cool” to perform community service. Through the YES! Program, high school students learn about the value of being philanthropists within their own communities and experience personal growth.

Think of the positive effect on the achievement and development of our Fort Bend ISD youth as they accumulate volunteer community service hours throughout four years of high school. Within this program a young person can excel, regardless of grades, talent, or athletic ability. The only requirement is heart and energy—both of which Shirley has a great deal that she continuously passes on to young people. After the successful pilot year, the 600+ students involved in the YES! program at Clements High School completed more than 14,000 hours of documented service. Over the past three years, she has had 1,000+ students who have given more than 45,000 hours. Giving of themselves to their community has become a way of life for Shirley’s “kids.”

In addition to her work at Clements High School, she has led three other high school campuses to form their own YES! programs. In the 1997-1998 academic year, the three participating high schools documented more than 51,000 community service hours. She currently is working to collaborate with Service Houston to facilitate scholarships for her kids in recognition of their community service.

Participation in YES! is voluntary and students may not be paid for the service they perform. The required hours can be fulfilled only with a non-profit agency or a non-family individual in need. Student volunteers are encouraged to be creative and varied in their community involvement. At the end of the service, a form is completed by the student and signed by the appropriate person with the program or agency or by the recipient of that service, and the number of hours worked is documented.

Reid Carpenter

Reid Carpenter has dedicated his life to Pittsburgh and the social, economic and spiritual welfare of its people. His focus has been on reconciliation, empowerment and mobilization of resources to serve the poor, youth and their families and entire communities. After coming to Pittsburgh in 1962, Mr. Carpenter discovered a need for resources and leadership in the community, leading him to become the founding President of the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation in 1978. During his 20-year tenure as President, he raised 35 million dollars and created 40 organizations and ministries who are today serving neighborhoods throughout metropolitan Pittsburgh.

As the President of the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation, Mr. Carpenter has effectively optimized the use of financial and human resources to address issues such as substance abuse and addiction among adults and youth, homelessness, poverty, hunger, juvenile crime, school dropout, truancy, racial discrimination, needs of the elderly, and health care for the poor.

Mr. Carpenter’s unique attributes of caring, loving, nurturing, compassion and empowerment have been a contributing factor in community mobilization and the creation of many neighborhood organizations as well as city-wide coalitions and partnerships that have sustained their advocacy and indigenous leadership roles. Some of the 40 organizations and projects that Mr. Carpenter has envisioned, initiated and organized include: the local branch of the national organization, Communities in Schools, which seeks to reverse the downward spiral of teenage dropouts; the St. Francis Adolescent Treatment Program, a hospital-based facility for chemically dependent youth; the Pittsburgh Youth Network, a collaboration of full-time youth ministers working together on recruitment, training, service, and evangelization; Cross-Trainers, an effort to recruit and train college-aged persons to work in inner-city churches during the summer to focus on helping youngsters in the community; Circle C Group Homes, six community-based homes for adjudicated young people that are assigned by the courts; the Anti-Racism Institute, a project to educate and train teams of people who will help organizations develop anti-racist attitudes and practices; Houses of Worship, an effort to connect all the churches in North America on the Internet, and to provide resources to allow church leaders help more people in need; and the Council of Leadership Foundations, an association of practicing leadership foundations whose task is accreditation, facilitation, training and resource development.

The ministry areas in which the Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation has invested financial and spiritual capital have not only become empowered, independent and self-sustaining communities that have ensured neighborhood revitalization and connectedness-but they have continued to receive Mr. Carpenter’s volunteer time as a board member, advisor, counselor, and advocate.

The result of the formation of these groups has been the creation of a spirit of cooperation, collaboration, and community that has connected the disenfranchised and disconnected with the sources of power and resources to move entire communities into the social, economic, and spiritual fabric of Pittsburgh.