As
a summer and after-school
program,
The Grove Neighborhood Network's
Kaleidoscope Youth Program
provides educational and
recreational programs for youth
at
Island Grove Village Apartments
and the
surrounding community.
A
completely volunteer-based
program, KYP has
successfully provided fun and
safe alternative activities for
the past two summers (KYP
2005 and
KYP
2006), offering
everything from
sign language to
crochet, from
building a community garden
to learning
how airplanes fly.
In
the process, KYP
has received a
Colorado Council on the Arts
folk arts grant for our "Visiting
Artist Series" and has
provided 27 all-volunteer-taught
classes for more than 1,460
hours of activities to 170 IGV
and area youth. During
KYP 2006, we also
hosted other organizations
participating in KYP's
fun, including the City of
Greeley
Recreation Department's
"Summer Fun in the Sun" program
and Greeley
Habitat for Humanity
residents.
Below is a chart of some of
KYP's facts and
figures.
|
KYP 2005 |
KYP
2006 |
TOTALS |
Youth Participants |
57 |
113 |
170 |
Time Youth Participants
in KYP Classes |
519 |
946 |
1,465 |
Distinct Classes |
17 |
10 |
27 |
Average Hours Youth
Participants in KYP
Classes |
9 |
8 |
17 |
Volunteers |
45 |
20 |
65 |
Volunteer Hours |
149 |
91.5 |
240.5 |
Volunteer In-Kind
Contribution (at $5.15
minimum wage) |
$767.35 |
$471.23 |
$1,238.58 |
*Please
note that KYP 2006
was one week
shorter than the
previous year, as well
as fewer distinct
classes were offered |
In
addition to the statistics, KYP
accomplished a number of other
goals during the past two
summers that transfer will
readily to its year-round,
after-school homework program:
-
Introduce IGV and area youth
to different people and
cultures:
Greeley citizens from
different socio-economic
backgrounds, Native
Americans, handicapped
teens, African-Americans,
members of Greeley’s Police
and Fire Departments
-
Improve “image” of Northeast
Greeley neighborhoods:
volunteers and youth
participants from throughout
Greeley and surrounding
Front Range communities
invested talent, time, and
money/supplies in safe,
accessible, enjoyable
environment
-
Establish and maintain
structured, disciplined
atmosphere:
behavioral rules, group
commitment and goals,
after-activity clean-up,
“pleases and thank yous,”
genuine appreciation for
volunteers and participants,
social skills with elders
and members of different
communities and backgrounds
-
Foster pride in environment
and accomplishments:
end-of-summer art shows
where kids showed off
results of their efforts,
Volunteer Appreciation
celebrations, community
policing of grounds and
classroom
-
Create sense of ownership in
program, goals, results:
can-recycling program to
raise program funds,
contribution of supplies and
materials, bragging rights
for accomplishments, kids
get to tell their
stories
-
Expose KYP
participants to new types of
“culture”:
youth string quartet taught
and performed, then
KYP kids attended
classical music concert;
Native Americans performed,
sang, danced, and drummed,
then kids played the
instruments, sang the songs,
danced in “friendship
circles,” and pounded drums;
hearing-impaired teen talked
about deafness and taught
sign language, then kids
talked freely about her
hearing implants and “sang”
songs using sign language
|