The Youth Services department provides activities that support young people to improve their academic achievement and life skills development. The program partners with neighborhood public schools and operates the following programs:
- Howard Area at CMSA /Teen REACH
- Sisters Chapter
- WIA Career and Employment Exploration
- Safety Net Works Case Management
- Howard Area Reading Program
- Seeing a Healthy Active Rogers Park
- Howard Area Afterschool at Gale
- Computer Clubhouse Arts & Technology Center
- Summer Camp
Howard Area at CMSA /Teen REACH (6th-9th grades) based at Chicago Math & Science Academy and Project JAM! (5th-7th grades) based at Jordan Community School are youth-voice and social-justice themed afterschool programs. They help youth to improve academic performance, develop social skills and prepare for high school. They take a root causes approach toward addressing issues for change in their communities. Confidence is gained through following curriculum that involves workshops on Identity, Oppression, Leadership and Non-Violent Issue Based Activism.
Sisters Chapter is a young teen women’s group. They meet to discuss issues affecting the lives of young women including ways of overcoming and navigating the threat of violence in their community. Using skills learned in workshops the youth perform community outreach by facilitating workshops in area schools.
WIA Career and Employment Exploration is a youth employment and college readiness program for youth ages 16 to 21. We provide paid and unpaid work experiences, drop-out prevention activities, alternative secondary school offerings, occupational skills training, leadership development, adult mentoring and counseling. Through the mentoring and leadership of our staff the students are able to stay motivated to graduate high school, succeed in the workplace, and prepare a post-high school plan for college or permanent employment. Our hardworking and highly motivated youth participate in workplace skills-building activities and trainings, internships, leadership development, and college exploration and application assistance.
Safety Net Works Case Management consists of on-going, in-depth services for identified youth including assessment; service planning; linkage and referral for youth ages 10-24 at a medium to high risk for violence. Throughout the process, together, case managers and youth work as partners to formulate a plan for the client’s life-long success.
The Howard Area After School Reading Program serves approximately 40 Gale Academy students who are performing significantly below their grade level peers in reading and who been recommended for literacy intervention. This 30-year-old program offers one-to-one tutoring and is held at the Good News Church on Tuesdays and Thursdays for second graders and on Mondays and Wednesdays for third and fourth graders. The instructional framework is based on the National Louis University clinic model. Program training and on site monitoring is conducted by National Louis trained supervisors.
The SHARP (Seeing a Healthy Active Rogers Park) program is a multi-pronged and collaborative approach aimed at preventing the overweight and obesity epidemic among the Rogers Park community by enabling participants to make informed healthy decisions. SHARP provides engaging activities to 210 low-income youth and adults, within two focus areas: Nutrition Education and Physical Fitness. A Registered Dietitian (RD) spreads the healthy living message through creative, age-appropriate workshops in Howard Area Community Center’s Youth Services and four after-school programs.
Howard Area Afterschool at Gale (Greensleeves and 21st Century) serves 3rd-5th & 6th-8th grade youth. This program focuses on Academic support, Social/emotional skills building, particularly peaceful conflict resolution and youth leadership and Health and fitness. They use a variety of visual, written, and dance arts as a model for which to increase literacy learning and physical fitness. Their Youth Leadership Council serves as an opportunity for personal growth and empowerment which enable youth to learn skills that will help them develop into successful, healthy adults.
The Computer Clubhouse Arts and Technology Center provides a creative and safe after-school learning environment where young people (ages 10-18) from under-served communities work with adult mentors to explore their own ideas, develop skills, and build confidence in themselves through the use of technology. The Computer Clubhouse provides opportunities for youth to exchange multicultural information with other teens worldwide. Youth are introduced to computer technologies relevant to 21st century careers in a global arena. We encourage youth to work on projects related to their own interests and aim to create a sense of community where young people work together with support and inspiration from adult mentors. Areas of Development may include: Graphic Arts, Web Design, Video Production, Music Engineering, Robotics, 3-D Design and Animation.
Summer Camp: Since 2001, the Youth Department has offered a summer camp program for 80-100 youth (3rd-8th grades) at Gale Academy, providing students with engaging academic and enrichment activities during the months that they are not in school. Camp runs for six weeks on a full-day schedule and offers recreation, arts, and social-skills building activities for youth from Gale and surrounding Rogers Park schools. The camp also provides work experience for up to 20 high school students who are able to participate in the summer camp as mentors and counselors-in-training.
Program Highlights
- Each year, more than 350 elementary school and high school students actively participate in after school activities.
- 80 children engage in an intensive, full-day Annual Summer Camp at Gale Academy.
- More than 50 teens learn work-related skills by attending employability workshops and or securing jobs or internships.
- More than 75 students have participated in two hours of nutrition and healthy lifestyles education and exercise each week.
Contact: Robert Conlon, Director (773) 381-3652 rconlon@howardarea.org
