May 12-13, 2008
Washington, DC
(For DOL YouthBuild Grantees only)
The DOL YouthBuild TA Collaborative is proud to announce the DOL YouthBuild Conference designed for DOL YouthBuild grantees. These conferences are designed to be regional but are open to any DOL YouthBuild grantees around the country. This conference will include:
- Announcements and grant opportunities for YouthBuild programs
- In depth courses for new and experienced YouthBuild programs
- Peer learning sessions
- Time for action planning
Schedule
Click to download the current agenda for the DOL YouthBuild Conference.
Courses Offered (choose one)
Readers and Writers Workshop
In this course, YouthBuild teachers will learn to build a culture in encourages young people to love reading and writing. Participants will develop an understanding and use of Learner's Strategies and will learn to develop higher order lessons, assignments, and assessments. Teachers will also understand the use of Instructional Strategies and learn to teach the Metacognitive Process.
Facilitator: Lew Gitelman
Creating Student Centered Curricula
In this interactive course, YouthBuild teachers and administrators will learn how to build a rich and engaged curriculum that emerges from young people’s lives, culture and the communities in which they live. Participants will develop the skills and tools needed to draw out young people’s stories in order to create curriculum that is relevant to their everyday lives.
Facilitator: Dr. Binta Colley
Effective Group Counseling Methods
This workshop will teach Youthbuild staff the do's and don'ts of effective group work. The workshop will address such issues as group composition, size of the group, confidentiality, constructive feedback and conflict resolution. Staff will learn how effective groups can address a wide range of concerns, from preparing for career opportunities, to behavioral issues that stand in the way of a young person's progress. The format of the training will consist of presentation, role plays, and interactive activities while the members are creating their own group.
Facilitator: Robert Klein
Building a Strong Staff
The YouthBuild staff team can make or break a YouthBuild program. The comprehensive nature of YouthBuild demands a staff team that brings considerable skills and talents in working with young people. In this course, participants will learn how to build the systems and processes that support staff to achieve their best work for the service of the young people.
Facilitator: John Bell
Optional Site Visit Seminar
Latin American Youth Center YouthBuild Public Charter School
May 14, 2008
Washington, DC
Programs may also choose to attend an optional Site Visit Seminar to Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) YouthBuild in Washington, DC with the focus on “Strong Academic Outcomes in a YouthBuild Charter School”
Schedule
Click to download the current agenda for DOL Site Visit Seminar – Latin American Youth Center (LAYC)
About LAYC
Founded in the late 1960s and incorporated as nonprofit organization in 1974, the Latin American Youth Center serves multicultural youth with a comprehensive set of social services and educational, work skills (WISE), advocacy programs and residential programs.
YouthBuild PCS is located in Washington DC’s Columbia Heights neighborhood, an area undergoing major re-development. There is an urgent shortage of safe, affordable housing in the area. Tensions between rival youth groups often result in violence. Crime rates are among the city’s highest. The need is pressing for educational alternatives, given that nearly half of DC public school students drop out before graduation.
To give young people the tools they need to transform their lives and communities through education, skill-building, and service.
The YouthBuild Public Charter School serves young people ages 16-24 who have dropped out of traditional high schools. At YouthBuild, students transform their communities by building housing for homeless or low-income families as they learn the construction trade, and they transform themselves as they prepare to earn their high school diploma or GED. The YouthBuild Public Charter School opened in 2005 as an outgrowth of an effective program begun in 1995 by the Latin American Youth Center in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.
At YouthBuild, students
- Complete their high school education by attaining a diploma or GED;
- Develop marketable skills in construction;
- Learn critical life skills, leadership development, and job readiness;
- Benefit from personalized support – mentoring, counseling, child care and housing assistance, and other services as needed;
- Serve the community by building or renovating housing for low-income residents;
- Earn a stipend to help meet family commitments and defray transportation costs; and,
- Secure employment or pursue a college degree (with scholarship support) upon completion.
Youth come to YouthBuild knowing challenges:
75% are high school dropouts
55% enter at or below a sixth grade reading level
30% are parents
31% speak limited or no English
and leave YouthBuild knowing success.
On average,
- Two out of three graduates increase their reading proficiency two or more grade levels;
- Four out of five graduates secure jobs, apprenticeships, or pursue higher education within 3 months of graduation; and
- in just one year, students learn construction skills and rehabilitate an average of ten units of affordable housing in the District of Columbia. In school year 2005-2006, YouthBuild students rebuilt 12 homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi.
A Locally Grounded Part of a Nation-Wide Movement
YouthBuild PCS is part of a 200-member national network using a model developed in Harlem in 1978. Through YouthBuild, more than 25,000 youth nationwide have transformed their lives through education, rebuilt their communities, and created more than 10,000 units of affordable housing.
YouthBuild PCS has received a 3-year $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the Gates Alternative High School Initiative.
YouthBuild PCS is an independent, private 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization overseen by a Board of Trustees that includes educators, financial experts, business owners, union leaders, construction specialists, community partners, fundraising professionals, alumni, and parents.
The school’s parent organization, the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC), is a firmly grounded local nonprofit organization with experience in forming and sustaining charter schools. These include the Latin American Montessori Bilingual PCS and Next Step PCS. Since its founding in 1974, LAYC has conducted education, counseling, housing, college preparation, recreation and job placement programs for more than 4,000 youth and families per year.
Demographics
2006-07 Student Demographics
65 Students enrolled
Gender: Male 34 (52%) Female 31 (48%)
Ethnicity: Black 42 (65%) Latino 22 (34%) African 1 (2%)
Reading Grade Level:
1-3 - 7 (11%)
4-6 - 26 (40%)
7-8 - 21 (32%)
9-12 - 7 (11%)
Age:
16 - 4 (6%)
17 - 19 (29%)
18 - 13 (20%)
19 - 6 (9%)
20 - 6 (9%)
21 - 9 (14%)
22 - 2 (3%)
23 - 3 (5%)
24 - 3 (5%)
Parents: 20 (31%)
Court Involved: 9 (14%)
Limited or No English: 20 (31%)
Special Ed: 11 (17%)
Event Location
Holiday Inn National Airport
2650 Jefferson Davis Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
As of Monday 4/28/08, The Holiday Inn only has rooms available on the 11th and 12th. The 13th is sold out. But don't worry.
While the event is being held at the Holiday Inn, an overflow room block has been established at another local hotel, the Best Western Pentagon/Airport.
Driving Directions from Best Western to Holiday Inn (Event Hotel)
BOOK IMMEDIATELY, ROOMS ALMOST SOLD OUT! Attendees should contact the Best Western Pentagon/Airport and mention the group code "YB" for YouthBuild when booking. Group rate is $137.10 per night, and includes a continental breakfast and internet access. Rate expires on 5/6/08! The Best Western is only a 7 minute taxi ride to the Holiday Inn (Event Hotel). There is also a free shuttle to/from Airport, Pentagon City Mall and Subway.
Travel
Book your flight to fly into Ronald Reagan National airport. There is a FREE SHUTTLE from the airport to the hotel.
|
