STORY NO.

57

Community Partnership For Youth

by Chris McKay

Our plan

In 1991, Ramon Avila, a promising young Seaside, California high school student, was shot and killed during an alleged drug deal. Local community leaders vowed to develop a solution to the rising level of crime in the neighborhood and its effect on the most vulnerable young members of the community. Everyone agreed that offering students alternative activities to crime was the best chance at reducing the violence. After some research, the leaders learned that the prime time for most of the crime was between 2 pm and 6 pm. Since this time falls right after the end of the normal school day, the group of community leaders decided the best idea would be to start an after-school center offering tutoring and mentoring to local students. Thus, the Community Partnership for Youth was born. The plan for the Community Partnership For Youth was to provide a quality, comprehensive mentor/tutor prevention program for Monterey Peninsula at-risk students during the peak hours of juvenile crime. First CPY made connections with local schools, and arranged to collaborate with teachers, counselors, and administrators to identify and enroll high-risk students who need CPY’s support and resources the most. To provide the best help to each student, the center decided that they would also work closely with teachers, students and parents to craft individualized programs of tutoring and mentoring tailored to each student's needs. Soon the center had moved on to easier decisions — they decided to open the center every day whenever school ended, hoping to capture the interest of students during the crucial 2-6PM time slot. And, gradually, as time went by, the center began crafting programs like art and music workshops, field trips and sports activities to interest students in visiting the CPY.

What we did

CPY’s first program launched in the summer of 1991, with 200 eager students involved. It was met by overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents, students, school officials and the community, giving the non-profit organization momentum to expand its programs to as many at-risk students on the Monterey Peninsula in California as possible.

Our results

Currently CPY is offered in five Title I schools and pulls students from three other area schools; soon they will expand into Salinas, which will add two more school districts and an additional eight to 10 schools. For the period July ’07 thru April ’08, there were a total of 396 youngsters attending daily sessions, plus 83 students enrolled in the inter-session classes (Summer Session attendees not in the after-school program). CPY has achieved a number of their own goals, including serving over 250 students, improving conflict resolution skills among students (a number of students have complimented this aspect of the program), and involving local high school and college students in the program via volunteer opportunities. All around, the Community Partnership for Youth has been a great success!

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Minyoung Huh
Kensington, CA