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CAVE's Excel Program
by: Lauren Castle
Introduction
The community project that I did for my senior year at Chico
State involved working with children and adolescents. It provided an
opportunity for students at Chico State and Butte College to volunteer in
their community. For my project I am the coordinator for one of the eleven
youth programs at Community Action Volunteers in Education (CAVE). CAVE is
a student, nonprofit community service organization that o allows students
to give back to their community. CAVE gives students the opportunity to work
with children, senior citizens, special population, adult non-readers,
veterans, and people in institutions. CAVE has over twenty different
programs for people to choose ranging from adult programs, weekend programs,
being a camp councilors for a week and children's programs. I am the
coordinator for the Excel children's program. I have been the coordinator
of the program for one year. My responsibility is to set up a program for
ten weeks, four days, a week, for two semesters at the Boys and Girls Club
of Chico. The Excel program allows students to volunteer at the Boys and
Girls Club of Chico. The volunteers go to the club two times a week, for
ten weeks. The volunteers can choose between two days either Monday's and
Wednesday's or Tuesday's and Thursday's from 4:00p.m to 5:30p.m. The idea
is to have positive role models interact with the youth in the Chico
community. This is a place for the youth to come and interact with other
youth their age in a positive manner and atmosphere, instead of getting into
trouble. The number one time for youth to be at risk of getting into
trouble is between the hours of 2:00p.m and 6:00p.m in the afternoon. The
purpose of my program is to give the kids a reason to come to the club and
hang out.
Statement of Need
My program has many aspects to it. There are a variety of things
for the kids to choose from during the programs hours. We offer the youth
the option of a tutorial program, sports, arts and crafts, kids in the
kitchen, field trips, guest speakers to listen to and a wide variety of
other activities during the ten weeks. We offer the kids a tutoring lab to
help them with their homework. Last year the Boys and Girls club gave test
a to see where the students were at in their reading and math levels. Most
of the youth placed two grades below where they should be. The tutoring
lab seemed to be a necessity. Most kids do not want to do homework when
they can hang out, so to get the kids involved in the tutoring lab we
decided to have fun and learn at the same time. To help the kids with their
writing we decided we are going to have pen pals with other clubs in the
area. This is a great way for the kids to meet new friends in different
areas. It is also a sneaky way to help them with their writing and grammar
skills. This is one idea that we have to try and get the kids into the
tutorial lab. Another way to help the kids with their schooling was playing
cards. This was a fun way to gamble and learn how to add, subtract and
multiply.
Description of the Intervention
Another dynamic to the program is the arts and crafts activities.
Every day there are different arts the kids can participate in. Some of the
arts and crafts we have done are stain glass, banners, butterfly magnets,
Easter cards, working with clay, God's eyes, (This is a art and craft were
the kids place two sticks in a tee position, than wrap yarn around the
sticks in different designs and colors) and many more creative crafts.
Another area we work with the kids is in the kitchen. We
try to teach the kids easy things to cook and then enjoy eating them
afterwards. Kitchen time always seems to be the kids' favorite. Some of
the activities we have done in the kitchen are: english muffin pizza's, pigs
in a blanket, cookies, pies, grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit shakes, and
many more. Those are just some of the simple delights that come out of the
kids' kitchen.
Evaluation of the Intervention
The kids also get to apply their athletic abilities during my
program's hours. There is always some kind of sport going on each day. The
kids love to play basketball, football, relay races, hockey, dodgeball,
baseball, jump rope, and any other thing that allows them to smile and run
off some of their energy. The kids also get to learn how to interact with
people in a positive manner. The students are there to show the kids a good
time and have a good time themselves. The idea is to have a positive place
to hang out and feel safe.
Reflections on the Project
The idea of the program is to empower the kids through different
types of activities. The whole concept is to have the youth grow and learn
different skills through group work and individual activities. The three
main goals are to make sure that every one is having fun, being safe, and
being respectful to everyone and everything. The club belongs to the kids;
it is not the staffs or my volunteers' place. Without the youth of the club
there is nothing. We need to remember that these youth are what matter.
The only thing that stands in the way of a child is not having a chance to
grow and learn while having a good time. My program is there for the kids
to laugh, learn, and think. The club is a second home to most of these
kids. We want to make it as safe and fun as possible. We are their family
and they are ours. It is not just a job but a place to make a difference
and a friend.
PRIORITIES
"a hundred years form now it will not matter what my
bank account was, the sort of house i lived in, or the kind of
car i drove..but the world may be different becasue i was
important in the life of a child.'
References
1.Garret, Michael Tlanuat: Crutchfield. Lori B. (1997) Moving Full Circle:
A Unity Model of Group Work with Children. Journal for Specialists In-Group
Work. 22(3), 175-200
2.Butcher, Dawn Anderson: Hall Evelyn. (1998) University students Learn by
Helping At-Risk Elementary School Students: "team lincoln." Social work in
education. 20(3). 191-205
3.Invernizzi, Marcia: Juel, Connie. (1992) A community volunteer tutorial
that works. The reading teacher, 50 (4) 304-314
4. Neuwirth, Sharyn. M ED. (1994) Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH publication No. 94-3572.
5.Vaughan, Peggy. Monthly Message, for parents only. Retrieved from the
World Wide Web April of 1997, http://www.vaughan-vaughan.com/mes007.html.
6.Boys and Girls club of Chico
7.Community Action Volunteer in Education
2nd and cherry street.
Chico Ca, 95926
530-898-5817
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