This article was originally published in the YMCA publication Make Change Happen: Stories from NYC Asset Labs, a publication for teachers and youth development professionals.
As a student at her zoned high school, Sarina felt lost in the mix of a huge school. Her school was overcrowded and there were no teachers with whom she made a connection. Sarina recalls, “I started slacking, especially second semester. I went up and down like a roller coaster. I was still slacking in the 10th grade.” Sarina heard about BGR [Boys and Girls Republic school] and enrolled mid-way through her sophomore year. Like many of the BGR students, she struggled with the transition from middle school and self selected to attend New Beginnings at BGR- seeing it as an opportunity to change her life. Feeling disconnected from school and unmotivated to learn, these young people, out of frustration and an inability to succeed in school, often rebel by acting out or dropping out. However some, like Sarina, are still hoping to make it through high school. They arrive at the doors of New Beginnings at BGR hungry for attention, waiting to be challenged, to be engaged and to be heard.
Staff at BGR understand the challenge and responsibility this reality poses to them as educators and counselors. It is what drives their commitment to creating an environment where students feel better and do better in school. It is also the reason the team wholeheartedly embraced the Assets framework from the moment they were introduced to it. Reflecting on their initial thinking around Assets and the team’s work as a lab, Case Manager, Kris Harris states, “Knowing about Assets helped to concretize some of the common sense concepts in youth development. We were forced to think about whether the presence or lack of Assets in each young person’s life was helping to motivate them towards their own definition of success.” Four concrete strategies that the BGR Asset Lab team initiated, with input from students throughout the school, were aimed at increasing youth engagement in school culture. The ultimate goal was to foster the leadership potential in all students, not just the “usual suspects”- students who were academically gifted or self-motivated to participate.
The Teen Action Summit was a tipping point in thinking about youth engagement. Among other initiatives and practices that students created through planning the summit, the Legacy Project provided a way for students, all of whom attended BGR for just one year, to make a lasting imprint on the entire BGR community. The Legacy Project, led through peer groups, challenges youth to select a project that would benefit the entire BGR community. After the first Teen Summit in May ’05, the advisory groups came to a consensus and decided to renovate the game room and host a grand re-opening. The Legacy Project, as well as the Teen Summit, are now permanent New Beginings at BGR programs. Student-led parent/teacher conferences and Transition and Award ceremonies are other venues for student engagement that were a direct result of infusing the Assets framework to the needs and context of BGR. All strategies, supported by positive relationships with teachers and BGR counselors, have enabled youth to have multiple opportunities to connect with school in ways many have never experienced. “Basing our approach on the Assets has helped us to build community and has definitely affected the vibe here. The process has been enriching for both staff and youth.” Shares Bonnie Massey, the school’s program coordinator.
For information about the YMCA Asset Labs, contact Marty W. Forth, Senior Director of Teen Programs and Services, (212) 630-9627 or mforth@ymcanyc.org
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