2006 REACH Program Improvement Grantees

REACH Program Improvement Grantees - Fall 2006

Big Brothers Big Sisters of El Dorado County
With plans to improve and expand its youth-to-youth school mentoring program, Big Brothers Big Sisters of El Dorado County will match students from Shenandoah High School in the rural community of El Dorado with students at nearby Charles Brown Elementary School. The teens and younger students will engage in shared activities they plan and implement together. Activities can include arts and crafts, school projects, music, reading, talking and sharing. The program goal is to have at least 25 site-based matches, for a total of 50 youth, through the school year. The mission of Big Brothers Big Sisters is to help youth achieve their highest potential through professionally supported one-to-one relationships.

The California Association of Student Councils
The California Association of Student Councils will engage up to 150 Sacramento County middle-school students in the Youth Education Forum, providing them an opportunity to impact California educational policy and legislation. In spring 2007, the students will identify issues of concern in their schools, come to consensus on their top priorities and formulate a proposal for change on the local and state levels. The students will select delegates to take proposals to the Student Advisory Board on Education in November 2007 and the Student Advisory Board on Legislation in Education in February 2008. CASC will work with local youth agencies to inform educators and students about the opportunity.

The Friendship Club
The Friendship Club Leadership Project is adding two components that will provide opportunities for disadvantaged adolescent girls in western Nevada County to lead and succeed. The program's "Frosh Service Learning Project" will engage the freshman group of girls in experiential leadership training and team-building activities. The 15 girls then will create an event in April for at-risk elementary school children. Girls in the "Friendship Club Leadership Council" will work on program evaluation and act as ambassadors to the community to promote the project's mission. The Leadership Project's goal is to promote emotional well-being for the girls by empowering them to see themselves as role models and leaders.

Girl Scout Council of Napa-Solano
The Girl Scout Council of Napa-Solano will begin work to increase program access for low-income girls in Vacaville and Fairfield through the Solano County Outreach and extension Recruitment Effort (SCORE). The effort is designed to increase the presence of outreach and extension programs in three phases, from November 2006 to August 2007. This grant will help fund phase one, which will include planning sessions to engage 30 youth in training and development of program curriculum and incentive programs. The second phase will focus on providing a technology training collaborative, and in the third phase leaders and girls will implement their earlier work in an effort to increase sites and participation from four sites serving 40 girls to seven sites serving 100 girls.

Hands On Sacramento
Through its Youth VolunteerWorks, Hands On Sacramento plans to increase the number and quality of volunteer opportunities available for young people in Sacramento and El Dorado counties. Project plans include creating a leadership council and training an estimated 20 youth as Youth VolunteerWorks leaders on their school campuses. These leaders will conduct outreach to local agencies to find volunteer opportunities that are engaging for youth, such as working with animals, the environment, the arts, other youth and seniors. The participants also will continue development of a youth web site page, and develop ways to market available volunteer opportunities to youth throughout the Sacramento region.

REACH Program Improvement Grantees - Spring 2006

Cottage Housing, Inc., SKYLAB Youth Production Studio
With plans to double participation in its youth leadership program, Cottage Housing's SKYLAB Youth Production Studio in North Highlands will reach approximately 100 Serna Village residents ages 10 to 15 with a youth-driven summer leadership camp. The youth will learn skills in leadership, project development and management, decision-making and interpersonal communications. In addition to field trips, specialized activities and coaching, participants will take part in individual health-focused projects and a group service-learning project.

Grant Joint Union High School District
Grant Joint Union High School District will create a garden-based mentoring program by linking two of its successful programs - Grant's Environmental Organization (GEO), a youth garden and environmental education program located at Grant Union High School, and Project Inspire, a district mentoring program that connects high school and elementary school students. The new yearlong program will give students an opportunity to experience seasonal changes that take place in the garden, while fostering meaningful relationships between the older and younger students.

Nevada Joint Union High School District
By improving and expanding its successful Youth Education Program, the Nevada Joint Union High School District will increase opportunities for teens to be engaged as leaders and prevention educators to middle school students. Plans include restructuring the program into a more youth-driven Youth Empowerment Program, which will engage students in designing and advocating for prevention strategies they identify as most-relevant to the needs in their community. Previous curriculum has included drug/alcohol/tobacco and violence prevention.

North Valley Sponsoring Committee
In Winters, the North Valley Sponsoring Committee will begin an outreach and engagement campaign focused on Latino youth who currently have little to no involvement in existing after-school programs. The NVSC will work to increase involvement in current city and school district programs, such as summer camps, a homework club and intramural sports. Plans also include the development of a new program focused on artistic expression, community involvement and academic skill building for Latino youth ages 10 to 15.

People Reaching Out
Using a youth leadership model that has been successful in other area school districts, the People Reaching Out After School Program will target 5th- and 6th-graders at Anna Kirchgater Elementary School in the Elk Grove School District. PRO After School is a youth-driven violence prevention program that promotes youth development by teaching young people the skills to make healthy choices, and providing opportunities for them to make meaningful contributions. Florin High School students will provide one-to-one mentoring as part of the program.

Society for the Blind
Society for the Blind will work to increase participation in its youth programs through a one-year process of needs identification and outreach activities. The project's efforts will concentrate on blind youth, parents and Visual Impairment teachers employed by school districts in Sacramento County. Activities will include the design of new youth development program components, creation of focus groups to improve current program design, development of enhanced community and school partnerships, and marketing and outreach of the program to blind youth.

Soil Born Farm Urban Agriculture Project
With a goal of adding a youth leadership component to its current pilot program - "Connecting food, health and the environment" - at Jonas Salk Middle School, the Soil Born Farm Urban Agriculture Project will develop the core model for a permanent youth leadership team, which will guide the service-learning components of the program over time. In addition to training in diversity awareness, meeting management, task planning and marketing during 20 weeks this summer and fall, the youth leadership team will select a service project that they will plan, implement and manage.

REACH Program Improvement Grantees - Winter 2006

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento
Through its new Service Learning Program, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento will offer opportunities for 35 middle school and first-year high school students to gain experience and skills in academics, planning, problem solving and leadership at the club's Teichert Branch in the Lemon Hill neighborhood of South Sacramento.

The Community College Foundation
The Community College Foundation in Sacramento will host a one-day summit to build community support for sustainable funding, and implementation of, the Early Start to Emancipation Preparation (ESTEP) program, which serves 12- to 15-year-old foster and probation youth in Sacramento County. ESTEP assists these young people with education goals, career planning and emancipation planning.

El Dorado Hills Community Vision Inc.
At El Dorado Hills Community Vision, youth will be trained to develop and staff a cable television show and media campaign to inform young people and adults about positive youth development practices and opportunities in the community. Participants will help plan and implement the programs, and will learn skills such as video camera operation, basic lighting techniques and sound recording.

I Trust Him Ministries Inc.
In an effort to reach approximately 1,500 African-American youth who are exposed to high-risk behaviors involving sexual activities and drug use, I Trust Him Ministries will create a youth-led initiative for HIV/AIDS education, intervention, prevention and testing in Sacramento County. A series of outreach efforts will include meetings, workshops, forums and a citywide youth summit.

Juveniles at Risk
Juveniles at Risk in Sacramento plans to develop a middle school program that will include classes and activities offered in a mainstream school setting, but with the addition of more one-to-one teaching time, a self-discovery program, drug and alcohol education and treatment, and a culturally sensitive setting staffed with teachers trained to work with at-risk youth of diverse backgrounds.

University of California's 4-H Youth Development Program
The California 4-H Youth Development Program proposed the creation of a three-day 4-H camp training conference for about 80 staff, volunteers and youth to improve the quality of 4-H camp experiences in Northern California. The program's task force will work with the 4-H camping community to evaluate, make recommendations and influence camp programs.

Yolo Family Resource Center
In Woodland, the Yolo Family Resource Center will create a youth leadership training program that will involve youth in agency planning and governance through community engagement and involvement. With a focus on boys ages 10 to 15, each youth will be matched with a Latino father who is actively involved in the center to provide support, guidance and leadership.