Program:
NiteLife
- Budget:
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$11,075
- Category:
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Youth Development
- Population Served:
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Youth/Adolescents only (14 - 19 years)
Program Description:
NiteLife – Safe, caring recreational environment for high schoolers during high-risk times on Friday night.
NiteLife began as a collaborative effort by community groups to address the need in Whitley County for positive opportunities during a high-risk time period on Friday nights for high school students. It is free to students and involves weekly themed activities, as well as a youth friendly environment for hanging out with friends. For 9-12 graders, NiteLife offers a great opportunity for affordable, local, and supervised fun, every Friday night from 8-11 pm.
NiteLife is staffed, planned, and supervised by the NiteLife Leadership Team and more than 40 adult volunteers who care about young people. In the 2008-2009 school year, 37 NiteLife events were offered. Each week, an average of 90 students attended events ranging from video game tournaments to concerts to karaoke. During the school year, 718 volunteer hours were logged for NiteLife, an increase of 11% from the previous year. The program also recently expanded to include a NiteLife Student Advisory Team. These students will help in planning, setting-up and promoting events, as well as attending monthly meetings to give feedback and help develop the program. For the 2009-2010 school-year, the Advisory Team will expand to include 8-12 members representing all three high schools in the County. A leadership curriculum will be studied with the group to help pursue “untapped” potential leaders, not those who are already acknowledged as leaders from the NiteLife crowd.
According to recent survey results from NiteLife:
¨ 91% of students believe that there are adults at NiteLife who care about them.
¨ 94% of students believe that adults at NiteLife show them how to act in positive, responsible ways.
¨ 83% of students say they have had at least one “real” conversation with a caring adult at NiteLife.
¨ Only 39% of students we work with at NiteLife agree strongly that their future is positive and promising.
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Program:
After-School Central
- Budget:
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$39,546
- Category:
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Youth Development
- Population Served:
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Children Only (5 - 14 years)
Program Description:
After School Central – A safe, supervised after-school program designed for enrichment, education, and recreation.
After-School Central (ASC) is designed to partner with parents by providing a free, safe and supervised after-school education, enrichment, and recreation program for middle school students. (Strong consideration is being given to opening ASC to 9-12 grade students in the upcoming year based on need). Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 3:45-6:00pm, during the school year, ASC provides a balance of recreation, education and enrichment through the daily structure of activities. Education and enrichment happens during “Options” and “Homework Time”, two 30-minute blocks of time. Opportunities include homework help, art classes, service projects, guitar lessons, fitness training, small group discussions on relevant youth issues and a variety of other activities. High School volunteers assist staff with concessions, homework help, supervision, and various other projects and responsibilities. This not only provides help to the middle school students, it teaches high school aged teens responsibility, job skills, maturity, service and teamwork. Bus transportation, through a partnership with Whitley County Consolidated Schools, is provided from Indian Springs Middle School to The Center.
Each week more than 25 middle school students attend ASC. These students not only are receiving help with their homework, rigorous studies show that after-school programs help to reduce juvenile crime and violence, reduce drug use and addiction, cut other risky behavior like smoking and alcohol abuse, reduce teen sex and teen pregnancies, and boost high school graduation rates. According to survey results from students attending ASC:
¨ 93% of students believe there are adults at After-School Central who care about them, and
¨ 87% of students reported they were motivated to do their personal best in school while at After-School Central.
ASC students also engaged in ten service projects such as weeding, raking leaves, baking brownies for firefighters, and making and delivering meals to Mad Anthony Hope House.
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