Y.U. LEARN Summer School Program

Program

Y.U. LEARN Summer School Program
YMCA University Leadership Education Adventure Responsibility NOW!

Meredith Mathews East Madison YMCA
Serving Aki Kurose, Hamilton, Meany, and Washington Middle Schools, all part of Seattle Public Schools

Contact

Sprout Hochberg, Director
Phone: 206/252-7744
E-mail: sahochberg@seattleschools.org

Y.U. LEARN at a glance:

• Urban middle schools
• Academic and behavior skill building for at-risk students
• Mentoring by minority college students
• YMCA-school district partnership

Background

This program is a joint collaboration of the YMCA and the Seattle Public Schools. Other community partners include the University of Washington for the summer of 2001 and Seattle Central Community College for the summer of 2002. The program's goals are to provide academic enrichment and behavior skills for children who are students in four of Seattle's inner-city middle schools. The students come from schools where the YMCA is the Community Learning Center lead partner. These schools vary in poverty level, test scores, discipline rates, and racial and ethnic diversity. However, the students chosen for the summer school program are all students who will benefit either academically, socially, and/or behaviorally from Y.U. LEARN.

Three years ago the YMCA of Seattle was interested in providing purposeful services to inner-city middle school students. The YMCA approached the district superintendent about the partnership. Likewise, the superintendent has a strong interest in having the school be part of a greater community. Two YMCA staff members are based in each school. "We are part of the school, not a separate program. Many kids and parents don't realize I am a YMCA staff person," emphasizes director Sprout Hochberg. In her parent information letter, Hochberg says "Y.U. LEARN is ... built upon YMCA values [of respect, responsibility, honesty, caring, faith, and fun] and Seattle Public Schools academic standards. Together we are motivating students to become capable and successful lifelong learners through academic achievement, hands-on adventures, and strong personal and community relationships."

Programming

The Y.U. LEARN summer program is based at a college campus in Seattle, an excellent setting for children to experience what college life is like. Every Monday college students talk to the children about career opportunities, drug and safety issues, and other topics. High school students from the YMCA program, Teach Change, also give presentations to the middle school students on issues such as violence, gang involvement, and domestic violence. Mentoring and modeling of appropriate behavior by these college and high school students makes a very powerful impact on these kids, especially since these mentors come from the same community.

The summer school program runs for six weeks, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Bus transportation and meals are provided. This year Y.U. LEARN is offered for students in four middle schools. Due to increased funding from a Gates Grant to the YMCA of Greater Seattle, the community learning centers will expand to more middle schools for a total of seven in the district.

The daily schedule is exciting and diverse, a combination of academics, electives, and field trips. After a morning assembly of brain teasers, vocabulary words of the day, and announcements, the children have one hour and twenty minutes of academic time in the morning and another hour and a quarter after a 15-minute recess/break. Academic time is spent on mathematics and language arts; the lessons are correlated with the Washington state learning standards. These periods are taught by certified teachers from the district who work with two groups of 25 children.

After lunch, activities vary according to the day. Mondays are guest speaker days. On Wednesdays the students go on field trips to places such as the aquarium and the Pacific Science Center. All field trips are tied to the academic part of the program. Tuesday and Thursday electives are ones that the students select for the whole program. There is something for everyone—cooking, chess, photography, martial arts, and acting, to name a few. Electives are facilitated by experts in each field like the Seattle Chess Foundation, Youth in Focus, Jet City Improv, and the SNACK program.

The summer program's grand finale is a weeklong camping adventure trip to YMCA Camp Orkila on Orcas Island. "The kids earn the opportunity to go on this trip," emphasizes Hochberg, "by showing academic progress, and good behavior."

Hochberg emphasizes that when a school district partners with an outside agency, each partner must have the same focus and mission, or the partnership won't work. Each partner must also commit to finding sustainable funding for the program. Someone must be designated as the leader in writing grants, connecting with other organizations, promoting the program to potential funders, and highlighting the unique aspects of the program. Fundraisers shouldn't be afraid to contact potential funders several times if necessary, says Hochberg. "Sometimes it takes that long for funders to hear you."

With her extensive background in summer camps, Hochberg understands how academic summer programs differ in purpose and content from the summer camps she used to run. "Middle school kids really need more ownership in what they are doing. But they also need more direction than many summer camps provide. They also need more academic support in the summer. Many kids end the school year and fall back before the start of school in the fall. We need to do more for them."

In the first year of Y.U. LEARN, the YMCA was able to serve 44 students, all sixth-graders, with 38 completing the program successfully and 19 going on the camping trip. In the second year of Y.U. LEARN, the YMCA served 80 students, both sixth- and seventh-graders, with 72 completing the program successfully and 41 going camping. Next year, there will be some expansion because there was a waiting list this year for students. Notable improvements in the second year of the program were increased parental involvement, great relationship building with Seattle Central Community College, increased academic time and quality, and increased quality of electives with more community partners.