| WISH LIST
$100: steel-toed work
boots for two YouthBuild students;
$500: 1-day conflict resolution
training for 10 students;
$1000:
First Aid, CPR, and OSHA safety
training for 10 students
|
A small, bilingual, alternative public charter school, YouthBuild offers young
people ages 16-24 who have dropped out, aged out, or been expelled from
traditional high schools, a unique second chance. In an intimate, supportive
school environment they earn a GED degree, acquire the skills needed to be
successful in college or the workplace, and navigate the transition to adulthood.
And this is no mean feat: 100% are low-income; more than a third are parents
themselves; another third speak limited or no English. Most begin with extremely low math and reading levels
(often the reason they dropped out in the first place). At YouthBuild, students alternate between school (serious
academics and computer, job-readiness, and life skills) and a construction site (10 affordable housing units were
built this year). Community service is also an important part of the program. So building means many things:
building knowledge, building character, building homes, building lives. Young people who typically feel they have
nothing to offer leave YouthBuild with a different perspective: “I built that,” they say. They have built even more.
IN THE MEDIA
Striving to Get Students to Drop Back InPosted Fri Feb 9 2007 by YouthBuild Public Charter School Each night, while his peers prepared for the next school day, Michael Barksdale picked out DVDs to watch from the comfort of his living room.
He should have been in 11th grade at Ballou Senior High School in Southeast Washington, but he was so far behind in such core subjects as reading and math that school officials wanted to bump him back two whole grades. So he stayed home and slept late.
Charter School's Lessons Extend to Another ContinentPosted Wed Dec 13 2006 by YouthBuild Public Charter School On any given morning, half the students enrolled at YouthBuild Public Charter School in Northwest Washington are not in class. They are out on a construction site, renovating an old home. The school, founded 11 years ago by the Latin American Youth Center, targets young people, up to age 24, who have dropped out of traditional programs. Yesterday, some of the students explained to a delegation of South African government officials why the school works for them and why a similar approach would help South African youths struggling with self-esteem and direction.
Dropouts Build New Foundations at DC Charter SchoolPosted Thu Apr 27 2006 by YouthBuild Public Charter School These are the kids who mow your lawn, flip your burgers and work the register at CVS. Some vanish from the D.C. schools before they turn 15. Some have babies before they can drive.
