YOUTH SERVICES
In the District of Columbia, there
is a need to maintain innovative, structured Performing
Arts year-round projects for gifted and talented youth
during the after-school training hours. Such projects
serve to improve the academic (school-based) and career
occupational (work-based) skills needed for the under-represented
youth through comprehensive, tailored and integrated
independent program designs.
 Due
to the lack of awareness, there exist untapped and
dormant reservoirs of “raw” performing arts talent
among the District’s area youth, who meet the federal
low-income guidelines and are at-risk of delinquent
behavior. The DC Department of Employment Services
Youth Employment referral system will ensure that
the Friends outreach process reach the East of the
River youth that normally would not receive or be
involved in a Performing Arts Prevention year-round
project of this caliber.
To accomplish this, we combine academic
and performing arts learning techniques to improve
secondary youth literacy deficiencies. We operationally
defined those learning skills to be reading comprehension
and vocabulary development, English grammar and composition,
and general mathematics and word problems. Also, develop
basic employment skills and reduce delinquent acts
through a host of independent career and delinquency
prevention/intervention workshops.
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HOW SERVICES ARE PROVIDED
The Friends offers Academic Remediation
Services & Technical Computer Graphics training
during the Summer and seven (7) performing art career
courses that integrate academics (English, Mathematics,
and Science), and career skills that will also serve
to reduce delinquency behavior directed to at-risk and
high-risk youth, ages 14-26 as defined as meeting the
federal poverty guidelines:
- Each performing arts course meets the
District of Columbia Public School Systems (DCPS)
current content standards and expected benchmarks.
Therefore, participants will acquire improvements
in their selected career occupation, academics and
work-readiness and life skills, all while avoiding
delinquent activity.
- This Performing Arts Youth year-round project has
been specifically designed to: integrate work-based
(performing arts occupations) and school-based (academics)
proficiencies of gifted and talented District youth,
who meet federal low-income guidelines and are at-risk
of delinquent/violent activities to ensure improvement
in their academic, employment and career competencies
through three (3) independent semester-based (fall
/ spring / summer) program designs.
- The program designs consist of: two independent
pre-occupational learning experiences (po/l) scheduled
for the fall and summer seasons, and a Spring Saturday
Academy . Each po/l has been designed to establish
strong employment and occupational learning skills
for gifted and talented participants, at-risk of becoming
delinquent who are interested to pursue careers in
the field of Performing Arts. The Saturday Academy
program offers detailed academic remediation and career
preparedness training services that is tailored to
improve each participant’s school-based and
work-based weaknesses, as well as prevent/reduce delinquent
behavior.
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