Community+Initiatives

Teen Resource Center, was established as an integral part of the Pediatric Unit of the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center in the fall of 2003. TRC receives funding from community members, including the Margarita and John M. Hennessy Family Foundation. The mission of the Teen Resource Center (TRC) is to provide information and support to the Asian American adolescent population through health education, youth programs & activities, and referrals. http://trc.cbwchc.org/# -Anqi

Hey Anqi, I think this is a cool topic, I was just wondering what specifically they did (do) to help the Asian American adolescents, I know you said they have programs, but are they classes or projects? Is this something that you participate in? I could see you maybe writing a paper on Asain American adolescents as a whole and you could examine how this program is integrated into their lives? Maybe you could do a case study of a specific area. This has a lot of potential, good job! - Kayley

//In Response//: //I agree with Kayley's response above! It would be really cool to investiage the Asian American education from this. Find it, is it effective? What has it done and impacted? That initiative seems like its a good one to investigate!//

Where is this program located and what is it that you do for the program? (Allegra Smith)

In 2003, the Massachusetts wanted to cut the budget for the school system. Plymouth, MA was left with the decision to cut all extracurriculars, or to raise taxes. The town was seriously considering cutting the school budget and would have done so if it weren't for a group of students who were passionate about their activities who made an effort to inform the community. We went to town meetings, wrote to the newspaper, took surveys, and did everything we could that would let people know that we cared about music, sports, and arts. In the end, the community decided the raise the taxes in order to save the school system's programs and we couldn't have been happier. It was long and somewhat vicious battle, but it just goes to show what can happen when a group of people get together to inform their community. (Kayley)

//In response: Hey Kayley! I like this idea a lot. In my town, we had a similar issues with the Drama club where a director was not going to be hired for the next year. We attended meetings and all that, and thank god she was hired. I guess the approach you can take with this, is how are extracurricular activities a learning process? What aspects of this is a public education initiative? Your paper will be very interesting to read!// (Alex Brewer)

//Hey Kayley, I agree with Alex, your idea is very cool. Especially at these days, all types of school are facing the similar finance problem. However, I am wondering, since you and your firend did such great job, was there any news related to it on the newspaper? Or any website we can search information about this event? (Anqi)//

What Safe Passage is, is a organization that is dedicated to the education of Guatemalan children who live within the Guatemalan city dump. It was started in 1999 by Hanely Denning, who is a graduate from my high school in Yarmouth, Maine. Since 1999, tons of my friends and schoolmates have gone down to Guatemala to help the children of the dump out. It has been an extremely successful program, where the children are educated basic skills they will need in order to be successful. The children attend the high school locally for half of the day. Most of the students then go to the Safe Passage location to receive further education by Guatemalan teachers as well as volunteers from everyone in the world. Safe Passage is used as a reinforcement tool for students to further their understanding of the subjects that are needed to leave the dumps of Guatemalan. (Alex Brewer)

//Response: Hey Alex this is a great topic. I just wondering what types of skills the program teache, and how to help the children be successful? (Anqi)//

AIDS service organizations (ASOs) are centers that help those with HIV, and many are also geared to spreading information and teaching people about HIV/AIDS. GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company that has developed the most HIV-related medicines, has launched “A Positive Life,” an educational initiative to disperse information and educational materials to ASOs, and also via a website that includes videos of people's stories. Scientists and physicians are also going out and meeting with people at the ASOs to talk face to face about these issues and answer their questions. This is one of several initiatives related to HIV; the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute is also providing simialr information through health clinics. (Nick Stopera)

Response: Nick, this is a good topic. The view of education is narrowed to education about a specific health topic. I like that it's not about general education, but I just hope that it's not TOO specific that there isn't enough to discuss in your paper. -Meri Taylor

Children Beyond Our Borders (CBOB) is a group that plans to help develop education in Latin America. It was founded by two University of Florida students, one of whom now attends the Maxwell School here at Syracuse. Angelica Suarez is from Medellin, Columbia, and lived with conflict for her entire life. She grew up without parents, and is now trying to help students in South America through this program. Its main focus is service trips. University students from the United States (who are mostly from the University of Florida) travel to various countries, including Columbia, for 2-3 week service trips. They generally work at schools, helping poor students aged 12-16. The Crossing Border Service trip is their annual event. The PLACA program at the Maxwell School is currently analyzing the organization’s structure and budget. The program's goals are to offer skills-based education, which goes beyond the traditional academic education that is taught in schools in South America (Meri Taylor).

Are you a volunteer for this organization? Is this program something a Syracuse University student can participate in? (Allegra Smith)

Catholic Charities Refugee Camp at Northside CYO. This is a program that reaches out to refugee families who just entered America, they provide both a daycare and summer school to the children. They provide the children with two meals a day which is great because some of them eat very little and sometimes nothing at home. They teach the children not only english but regular habits that Americans practice everyday. They provide them with toothbrushes and teach them how to use them and they also teach them how to use the bathroom and normal writing utensils that many of them have never used before. The children make alot of progress in the few weeks they participate in the summer. (Allegra Smith)