Submitted by St. Stephens
St. Stephen's Youth Programs
A Day In The Life of B-READY Students
On October 24th, elementary school students from both B-READY sites enjoyed a fun and engaging event planned by Addie Gomez, Site Director at St. Augustine-St. Martin. The children learned about community professions and what it is like to be a doctor, chef, police officer, or artist by doing hands-on activities. The highlight was a visit from three area police officers, who ran races with the children, led games and brought them sticker badges and coloring books.
College & Career Program, Keeps Teens' Eyes On Their Future
We provide teens with a wide range of programs to help them identify and reach their goals. High schoolers participate in St. Stephen's Place of Opportunity For Teens (S2POT) and fifth through eighth graders are part of our Youth Leadership Corps (YLC). Together, both groups receive homework help and tutoring during bi-weekly Academic Nights. These nights have been very well attended this fall and typically have more than 35 students focusing on school work and more than 20 volunteers, including young adults from the Jewish Community Relations Council and Wellesley College, who help us to provide all of those students with individualized support.
Our College & Career program helps S2POT teens explore their interests, visit local colleges, and navigate the admissions process for college or alternative programs. Some seniors and juniors choose to be paired with a mentor and receive intensive one-on-one support throughout the school year |read more below|. Others just take advantage of Academic Nights and group events, like a career panel on the arts we held on November 4th. Panelist Saun Green discussed how art and creativity have impacted the work he has done in the city, and James Milord an award winning Haitian-American actor, entrepreneur, and activist described the journey of discovery that that led him from the streets of Boston to the Boston Arts Academy and the stage.
Kasey Boston, our Director of Youth Employment and Leadership is helping teens develop goals that are "SMART" (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely). Our Massachusetts Promise Fellow,Jeremy Kazanjian-Amory is coordinating many of the College & Career programs and is also running an internship for 14-year-old Junior Counselors-In-Training (JCITs) to help them develop their professional skills.
When It Comes To Success, Mentors Matter
One in three young people will grow up without an adult mentor. This is a sobering statistic because young people who have mentors are:
- 20% more likely to graduate from college,
- 30% more likely to participate regularly in extracurricular activities,
- 29% more likely to hold a leadership position in a club, sports team, school council or another group, and
- 21% more likely to volunteer regularly in their communities.*
We pair high school seniors and juniors in our College & Career Program with mentors who help them to develop a road map for their lives after high school. Together the mentoring pairs explore the teen's skills and interests, identify colleges, complete applications, and secure funding to make the dream attainable. Mentors also help teens manage their time, interact effectively with others, and be accountable for their commitments.
So far this year, we have paired about 30 students with mentors, but we still have unpaired teens. Our staff and mentor coaches will give you all the support you need to be a successful mentor. If you are interested in building a mutually rewarding relationship with a young person, or supporting the program in some other way, please contact Jeremy orKasey.
*National Mentoring Partnership data retrieved from: http://www.mentoring.org
#GivingTuesday, Give A Better World
As our students learned during B-SAFE last summer, Nelson Mandela famously said "It is in your hands to make a better world." Next month, in addition to sending out our usual fall appeal letter, we are joining more than 10,000 organizations in 46 countries which are participating in a global day of giving onTuesday, December 2nd. Coinciding with the kickoff of the holiday shopping season, #GivingTuesday harnesses the power of social media to counter Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a call to collective action through smart giving. As Kathy Calvin, CEO of the UN Foundation notes,"The most meaningful gift we can give our children, loved ones, friends and neighbors is the commitment to work together to help build a better world."