Choosing to sacrifice some summer fun for an educational future, 147 local youth joined Centennial’s award-winning HYPE (Helping Youth Pursue Education) program this year to sample a rich learning experience at no cost to them.
The youth, aged 13 to 29, primarily from the Scarborough neighborhoods of Malvern, Kingston-Galloway and Scarborough Village, participated in six career-oriented courses – in automobile repair, food services, child studies, office administration, business entrepreneurship and esthetics – over the past six weeks.
The HYPE Class of 2009 was recognized at a special graduation ceremony at the Progress Campus Student Centre on August 13. The students heard some inspiring words from keynote speaker Nation Cheong of the Youth Challenge Fund, as well as from valedictorian Sheldon Blackbourne.
“I learned to smile here,” Sheldon was quoted as saying in a Toronto Sun article. “I didn’t understand the importance of education and finishing school. Fortunately, I’ve found many options through the HYPE program.” Having sampled the college experience this summer, Sheldon plans to enroll in Centennial’s Child and Youth Worker program this fall and become a social worker.
For some, participating in the program is the first positive school experience they’ve had in a long time. The initiative is rooted in Toronto Mayor David Miller’s Community Safety Plan, designed to bring programming to youth living in under-serviced neighborhoods of the city. Centennial worked with local community service agencies to identify youth who could benefit from the career programming. Now in its sixth year, HYPE also received a lot of positive word-of-mouth from local residents, which helped generate 220 applications for this year’s intake.
For some, participating in the program is the first positive school experience they’ve had in a long time. The initiative is rooted in Toronto Mayor David Miller’s Community Safety Plan, designed to bring programming to youth living in under-serviced neighborhoods of the city. Centennial worked with local community service agencies to identify youth who could benefit from the career programming. Now in its sixth year, HYPE also received a lot of positive word-of-mouth from local residents, which helped generate 220 applications for this year’s intake.
Thanks to a large grant – $450,000 over three years – from Michael Clemons’ Youth Challenge Fund, the students were provided with free transportation, textbooks, breakfast and lunch. A generous grant from TD Bank Financial Group allowed HYPE to expand this year to include more participants and mentors, as well as additional training opportunities.
Students developed individual portfolios that included certification earned in personal and skill development workshops, such as “financial literacy,” presented by volunteer staff from TD Canada Trust. Participants also took part in a variety of social events.
Students developed individual portfolios that included certification earned in personal and skill development workshops, such as “financial literacy,” presented by volunteer staff from TD Canada Trust. Participants also took part in a variety of social events.
The college has expanded its bursary program, awarding each of 40 HYPE participants with a $1,500 bursary when they enroll in full-time studies at Centennial this fall. Last year’s bursary winners will receive $1,000 each to commence the second year of their programs. HYPE is managed by Tony Granato and overseen by Tony Bertin, Manager, Community Outreach Office, of the Student and Community Engagement division.
Watch the video related to youth mentoring
Investigation Of Characteristics Of Mentoring Relationships And Positive Youth Outcomes
Help answer the question about youth mentoring
Does anyone know of any positions open working with Juveniles in Southeastern Michigan?I recieve my bachelors degree in Criminal Justice the beginning of 2008, and I hate my current job. I need to get a lead on something that may be opening up. I have a good amount of experience, because I am currently a youth mentor for kids who have been in trouble, and I have gone through the experiences personally as a youth. Please help!
About Author
Marcus, the author, puts forth the advantages that HYPE has brought into the society and that it is also receiving funds from various organizations and companies. It has been working as a child and youth workers and is involved in school of social work as well.
Tags: Jacqueline King, Meyerhoff, UMBC, UMBCTube
harry potter looks young
take it easy XBOX360Nigga, I’m sure they took it out first
I lost my job 6 months ago, but I've finally found something I can do at home to make some exta money to help make ends meet. By no means am I rich, but every penny helps. Try it yourself. http://www.goodinternetdeals.com/Work-At-Home.html
I've volunteered with several youth programs, and I've had some pretty positive experiences with all of them. I currently work with several programs. I am an active "Big" in the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization:
http://www.bbbs.org
I'm on my second match, and it's been a lot of fun. Even though at times you may not realize the impact that you are making, it's all of the little moments that make it worthwhile.
I also volunteer through my volunteer center to tutor children at the library and work at the local children's shelter. I've found the most variety through the volunteer center:
http://www.handsonnetwork.org/our-network/
http://www.pointsoflight.org/c.....center.cfm
http://national.unitedway.org
It all depends on the type of time commitment, and what you are looking for in a program. If you are looking for a one-on-one match, then I would suggest that Big Brothers is a very good program. If you are looking for general mentoring opportunities, I think your volunteer center may be able to help you find stuff that will have a shorter time frame to get started. In both cases with Big Brothers, it did take quite a bit of time before I was matched, and a longer time in order to build a relationship with my match.
Good luck!
Haha, pretty funny. But Ozzy made it a whole lot better. Good taste in music.
you can make them an exact clone of you!
Watch the new episode of Clone Wars, on Cartoon Channel!
That girl at 1:44 is a bitch
asshole, sorry your other videos are good but this , this video sucks.
This video was funnier than hell lol wow wouldn’t that be awesome.
xbox360nigga, it’s not real…
You are going to need help to do it. TV stations won't run commercials that don't meet their standards. Hunt down local TV production students or even public-access TV afficionados.
I make my own infomercials for the internet… but making commericals for TV is a different game altogether.,
i would say to talk with a salvation army family shelter director.
good stuff ahah
You won't get rich but there are lots of jobs available.
It's stressful though — there is high turnover because of the hours vs. the amount of pay.
You can be a mentor without it being your job — lots of kids need mentors.
(At first I thought you were talking about being a youth pastor)
Big Brothers/Big Sisters is a great mentoring program.
I would start by going to a city hall meeting for the city that you're interested in and see how they operate. After the meeting, talk to the Chair of the commission and see if he or she may be interested in such a program. Then ask them how you can put discussion of this on the next meeting's agenda. You will likely have to give a short presentation of the program and answer questions by council members and other citizens that come to the meetings. It will help if you can get the support of teachers in local schools and make sure that they show up at the meeting to support you.
Hope that helps!
Get involved with area schools, churches, youth groups, sports leagues and scout groups. Write to their community service coordinators (or whoever would best fit this description) and ask to be put on a list of organizations looking for help.
In particular, find out who in your community encourages or requires community service. Ask kids to run small grade-level or school/church/team wide drive for the items you're looking for. Do it in advance so you can bank the bulk of the items for the coming year and fill in as necessary. 5 kids with 20 friends each bringing 1 school item equals 10 filled backpacks. Get a whole school involved and you may be able to cover your program for the year and attract new donations.
Also consider getting volunteers involved in more direct ways. People who are invested in a program are more likely to support it financially.
I run a small non-profit and I've been spreading the word about our program to supply gently used sports uniforms and footwear to kids in rural Mexico. I was just contacted by a family whose 4th grader is interested in running a drive at his school as part of a run for class office. Apparently it's a tradition at his school to prove one's leadership through such a project. I know he won't be able to supply a very large part of what we need, but every little bit helps and the publicity we'll get out of it will be very valuable. We'll run a thank-you in the newspaper, put his face on our website and benefit from the word-of-mouth publicity at his school.
“what are you doing”….”ughhh i’ll tell u when u get older”…LOL