By Jamie Burch | Director of Development
Global Giving Interim Update
Due September 26, 2015
Section 1: Narrative
Thank you for your continued support Youth Enrichment Services (YES) and the YES Academy programs Boston teens. It was a successful summer for our young people and exciting plans are underway as we begin the 2015-16 school year.
In the Junior Volunteer (JRV) Leaders Program, we piloted the JRV Summer Program in July and August to expand teen leadership opportunities beyond the school year. 24 teens participated in the program this summer. Teens attended leadership workshops and were junior leaders on Outdoor Adventure day trips and overnights to the Berkshires. With support from YES staff and volunteers, JRVs planned and led activities, taught outdoor skills and sports, and acted as positive role models for young children in the Outdoor Adventure Program.
The school-year JRV Leaders Program begins on October 27 and will run through April. Across all YES programs, age-based cohorts continue to be increasingly incorporated into each program, enabling YES to successfully meet the developmental needs of teens to maximize their learning and growth. We are putting this philosophy further into practice within the JRV Teen Leaders program this fall. For the 2015-16 school year, enrollment will be capped at 50 students as compared to 65 in past years. This reduced cohort size will benefit teens by giving them more individualized attention and group mentoring in a smaller setting.
In the Career Exploration Program, programming was quiet over the summer. However, plans for exciting expansions were shaping up! This fall, ten (10) Boston teens will have the opportunity to intern at the YES office. (This is 4 more slots as compared to the 2014-15 school year.) The CE Internship is a six week job training opportunity for youth to take ownership of a meaningful project under the mentorship of YES staff. At the end of the internship, youth have completed a tangible project, built new skills, and gained practical experience to enrich their lives and their resumes.
The weekly Career Exploration program begins on October 21 and will meet weekly. Teens receive personalized attention and group experiential learning opportunities that inspire and prepare them to succeed in today’s workforce. Youth participate in weekly skill-building and educational workshops where they learn and practice critical technical competencies (e.g. computer skills, resume/cover letter writing, and online job search tools) and job readiness skills (e.g. time management, goal setting, public speaking, problem-solving, and interviewing). Teens also participate in corporate visits and job shadows.
YES continues to cultivate its partnership with the Boston Public Schools (BPS) to further engage students in YES programming and to offer on-site programming at the schools. The Career Exploration is confirmed to be offered at the Jeremiah Burke High in Dorchester during the 2015-16 school year. YES is also exploring offering the Career Exploration program at Charlestown High or Fenway High.
The College Prep program continues to be critically important for YES’s young people as it gives our teens a jump start on preparing for college. Extensive time was spent this summer, designing and planning a new Freshman Track within the College Prep program specifically for 9th grade students. YES’s goal is to increase our students’ "college knowledge" as early as possible in high school. The Freshman Track began on September 14. The other cohort of College Prep (geared towards 10th, 11th, and 12th graders) will begin on October 19.
The TACF Scholarship at YES supports graduating YES youth who are interested in pursuing higher education degrees in the fields of technology or sciences. This summer, two YES graduating seniors were awarded TACF scholarships.
Scholarship Winner #1 - 18-year-old Elizabeth, a 2015 high school graduate and Boston resident, is an animal lover and aspiring veterinarian. Through her involvement at YES as a Junior Volunteer and participation in the Highland Street Youth Philanthropy Initiative, she discovered Sunny Meadow Animal Sanctuary. Through Highland Street, she was part of a group of YES youth who awarded the Animal Sanctuary with a grant. Since then, she’s become a dedicated volunteer at the Sanctuary, cleaning the barns, feeding and taking care of the animals. Her volunteer experience has shaped her career goal of becoming a veterinarian and offering affordable care for all types of animals.
Elizabeth started her freshman year at UMass Amherst earlier this month.
Scholarship Winner #2 – A lifelong resident of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood and 2015 high school, 18-year-old Bridget says that serving her community has made her a better person. Bridget goes on to share that “an important belief which [she] holds is that young people should give something back to the community where they are part of.” As a Junior Volunteer at YES, participation in Live Blue and Project DEEP, Bridget devoted over 300 hours of community service this year.
Bridget started her freshman year at Bunker Hill Community College earlier this month.
Section 2: Thank you for your support
Support from the TACF has been invaluable to YES's efforts to build capacity within these highly effective teen leadership programs and the organization's ability to deepen its impact on Boston teens. The Junior Volunteer Leaders, Career Exploration and College Preparation programs at YES have proven essential to reaching and making a difference in the lives of the underserved young people of Boston. These programs are a crucial way in which YES is responding to authentic unmet needs among YES’s target population: gaps in employment resulting from limited job readiness opportunities; under-achievement in education resulting from low "college knowledge"; and few chances to be leaders in their community due to limited meaningful out-of-school programming. The Trip Advisor Charitable Foundation generous support has made a tremendous difference in YES's ability to meet these critical needs for our young people.
Section 3: Visuals
Please see photos of YES Teen Leaders in action below.
Section 4: Multimedia
Please see News Article attachment below. YES teen leader, 17-year-old Chris, had his personal essay published in the Boston Globe on September 20, 2015. The op-ed article focused on LGBTQ youth rights. See article below.
Section 4: Engagement Opportunities
All of us at YES are deeply grateful for the support you have given to our young people as investors in our high-impact YES Academy teen leadership programs. If you are local to the Boston area, we would be honored if you deepened your investment by engaging with our young people as a volunteer. Volunteers are essential to the success of YES youth, and we enthusiastically welcome volunteer support. YES is especially eager for professionals to volunteers to facilitate 1-2 hour workshops to help the YES Youth Ambassadors improve their public speaking skills, learn about body language, how to engage with an audience and so forth.
There are a variety of other YES volunteer opportunities, both short-term such as being a guest speaker at Professional Career Day, or hosting YES students on a one-day job shadow or semester-long internship in your office. YES also supports its corporate partners as potential Board and Advisory Council Members, if there is interest in taking part in the planning and fundraising activities here at YES.
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