Youth Success meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 10:30 a.m.

Good afternoon,

We had a very productive meeting to plan the neighborhood dinners for high school youth & families. Here are the notes & general ideas — everyone is very welcome to help with these!

2/14/11 meeting notes

· Space: Tish – call Melissa Whitson, Wilson Library to request space: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday

· Neighborhood connections: Tish – request meeting with Alderwoman Andrea Jackson-Brooks for advice

· Publicity ideas: All – Andrea Jackson-Brooks, management team, library fliers, Hill Youth Action Team, Frontline Souljaz neighborhood faith groups, follow-up phone calls

· Additional workgroup invitees: Kerry – inviting Riki at Hill Youth Action Team, Blessed from Frontline Souljaz, Julia Santos with SWANA, Michael Ben-Elohim from Strive

Agreements:

· Series of 3 meetings, one dinner meeting per week, learn from each on how to plan the next one

· Start with Hill North – Wilson Library?

· High school age youth and families — doesn’t have to meet a matched set

· Rachel submitted a grant application for ~$5,000 from NewAlliance Foundation

· Host these events in late March/early April

· “Career, College & Beyond”

· Presentation, Q&A, interactive conversations and table-based questions & conversation

· We’ll plan additional dinner series, based on what we learn

· Resource Info Tables/table leaders

Topics (and potential speakers to approach):

o Addressing issues of students struggling with school

· Area high school principals

· NHPS central admin. opportunities

· Teach Our Children

· AFCAMP

· Blessed or other speaker?

o Career & job forecasts & exploration

· Mary Ann O’Brien

· Workforce Alliance

o College opportunities

· Chaka Felder – College supports/prep.

· NH Promise Scholarships

· Sarah Fabish, Community Foundation

· Recent alumni

Next meeting: Tuesday, February 22, 10:30 a.m. at New Haven Family Alliance, Move to Work classroom.

Please call me with any questions.

Thanks!

Rachel

Rachel Heerema, Executive Director

Citywide Youth Coalition, Inc.

PO Box 354

New Haven, CT 06513

(203) 464-7838

@NHV_Youth
www.cwyc.org

Use #nhvyouth to tweet NH youth news!

Building a Courageous Community in which All Youth Can Succeed

Youth Success workgroup mtg on Wed., July 14 @ 3 p.m. @ NH Family Alliance

This workgroup is open to everyone who wants to work together to help youth succeed!

The CWYC youth success workgroup meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 14 at 3 p.m. at NH Family Alliance, 370 James Street, New Haven.

Take a look at the survey results, recently completed.

We will continue our conversation on the best ways to be specific in helping kids to plan for their success – work experience, college prep, school success, etc. If your work engages with these aspects, please come to this meeting.

Please contact me with any questions.

Thanks & see you there!

Rachel Heerema, Executive Director

Citywide Youth Coalition, Inc.

PO Box 354

New Haven, CT06513

(203) 786-5970×322

www.cwyc.org

Building a Courageous Community in which All Youth Can Succeed

youth success survey results 2010-06-01.pdf

Celebrating Afterschool Success event on Wednesday, May 12, 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Dr. Charles Warner has been honored as Afterschool Ambassador, and the New Haven Public Schools along with the CT After School Network and Citywide Youth Coalition invite you to this fun, informative event about the successes and contributions of youth in afterschool.

Please click on the link below to register or RSVP:
https://events.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e2u4gxr5f817ca1b&oseq=

If you have any questions about this event or experience difficulties registering, please contact Renee Osborne at 203-946-7874.

Thank you for your support of children and youth in New Haven. We look forward to seeing you at this event.

Sincerely,

Afterschool Alliance Ambassadors Reception Committee

New Haven Public Schools
CT After School Network
Citywide Youth Coalition

All Youth Succeed meeting: Wed. Apr. 28 at 3 p.m. — please join us!

We had a great meeting on March 31st, focusing on:

• youth employment
• service learning
• self-esteem and pre-employment skills

The next meeting will be Wednesday, April 28 at New Haven Family Alliance, 370 James St., 2nd Floor, small conference room. This meeting is open to everyone: youth and family members especially.

EVERYONE is requested to talk with 3 school-age youth and ask them:

• What does success mean to you?
• What do you need to get there?

Please return this information to me (Rachel) before the next meeting, as we will discuss our next steps then.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Rachel Heerema, Executive Director

Citywide Youth Coalition, Inc.

PO Box 354

New Haven, CT06513

(203) 786-5970×322

www.cwyc.org

Building a Courageous Community in which All Youth Can Succeed

All Youth Succeed meeting: Wednesday, March 31 @ 3 p.m.

Good afternoon Citywide Youth Coalition members & partners,

CWYC is hosting an All Youth Succeed meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, March 31 @ 3 p.m. at New Haven Family Alliance on 370 James St., 2nd Floor, New Haven.

To answer this question: how can we work together to make sure that all youth in greater New Haven have a sense that they will succeed in life?

Some ideas:

• Increasing youth employment, working with Youth@Work & New Haven’s Economic Development dept.
• Supporting the positive youth development programs that work — what help does your program need? What models work?
• Brainstorming ways that we can collaborate with other services/programs
• Strategizing for upcoming funding opportunities
• Reaching out to youth at risk
• Working with youth to help them identify their strengths and plan for success
• Measuring what works

Bring youth in your program to help us prioritize!

Answering a common question: what does “success” mean? Youth need to answer that question individually, based on their strengths and interests.

Please join us! Call me with any questions.

Thanks for the great work you do,

Rachel

Rachel Heerema, Executive Director

Citywide Youth Coalition, Inc.

PO Box 354

New Haven, CT06513

(203) 786-5970×322

www.cwyc.org

Building a Courageous Community in which All Youth Can Succeed

Notes on building youth’s sense they will succeed

At our December 16, annual meeting, members and partners brainstormed how we can build youth’s belief that they will succeed in life.  Here are the notes from that conversation.

What we’re doing now & what we want to do in 2010:

• Continue to develop the Positive Young Brothers partnership program.
• Create developmental sessions that promote a positive sense of self, i.e. community outreach (Amity Teen Center)
• Decrease youth violence
• Engage high risk youth (Street Outreach Workers)
• Expose students to various careers and promotes for their future (Family Learning Center)
• Figure out a cost effective and accessible way to engage families and community in arts and everyday life.
• Host reasoning with rehab groups for youthful offenders to inspire change in thought process (Project MORE)
• Host women’s & men’s groups promoting positive interaction with one another; self-esteem building, leadership training, Kingian non-violence training (Your Place Youth Center)
• Increase age of Juvenile Justice Jurisdiction in CT (Rep. Toni Walker)
• Increase numbers in youth employment
• Offer finance course at Gateway for ages 18-30
• Offer opportunities for performance: 25 Instrumental Impact students are performing in the New Haven Youth Concert Band at Battell Chapel on Jan 10.   20 others are taking private lessons and performing in recitals during the school year (Neighborhood Music School)
• Offer self-esteem programs for teens and female empowerment series (Amity Teen Center)
• Offer youth team-building programs on-board their tall ship allowing youth to accomplish the great task of sailing a tall ship on their own (Schooner)
• Push students to develop personal goals for their school/personal life (Family Learning Center)
• Secure funding for youth employment statewide (Rep. Toni Walker)
• Secure funding to continue Instrumental Impact program and to expand it to other schools in New Haven (Neighborhood Music School)
• Support youth community service projects, musical performances and arts exhibits (Amity Teen Center)
• Teach students skills like teamwork as well as letting them understand dignity and respect (Family Learning Center)
• Train youth and adult staff on ways to appreciate youth, i.e. “Appreciation Nation” (Solar Youth)

• Use strengths-based approach to support leadership, so they feel good and know they have something to contribute (Public Allies)
• Volunteer to facilitate a working group to brainstorm ways the NH community, as a whole, can express to youth they have value and are valued (Solar Youth)

Youth Leadership Council inducted

It was a pretty summer Saturday today, but at 11 a.m. I was sitting inside one of the meeting rooms in City Hall watching as 20 of the best & brightest of New Haven’s youth took an oath to challenge respectfully and conduct themselves with character as the New Haven Youth Leadership Council.  Some of the 20 will serve as Youth Ambassadors this summer as well, conducting surveys and researching youth issues in our community.  Parents were there with cameras while their kids sat up front, facing the audience, well dressed and serious.  Mr. Che Dawson, Ms. Chaka Felder and Alderman Joey Rodriguez addressed remarks to youth, parents and friends in the room about sacrifice, opportunities and expectations.

Plus, there were sandwiches at the end and good chocolate chip cookies…

I confess that I occasionally grumble before going to Saturday morning events, but when I left this event, it was with a sense of great achievement by these youth today and the tremendous possibility within our community because of their character and their commitment through this upcoming year.

I am really looking forward to what happens next!