PBHA’s Harvard STAGE (Student Theater Advancing Growth and Empowerment) is a theater and public service organization under the umbrella of PBHA. We provide a weekly theater program for youth in the Greater Boston community. Throughout the school year STAGE members work with middle and elementary school children in under-funded Boston schools who would otherwise have little or no exposure to the performing arts. STAGE teaches its students the basics of theatrical performance, from improv to character development, ultimately helping students write and perform their own show which is showcased at Harvard at the end of the year. Theater experience is encouraged but not required; STAGE provides teacher training at the start of the year. For more information, please contact Jackie Palumbo (jpalumbo@fas.harvard.edu) or Shannon Clearly (cleary12@college.harvard.edu).
This post was written by admin on September 21, 2009
Posted Under:
Afterschool,
Arts
PBHA’s South Boston After School (SAS) is an arts-based literacy program for low-income youth who reside in South Boston. SAS utilizes an enrichment curriculum to promote the positive youth development of first and second graders who attend the James F. Condon Elementary School. SAS strives to empower youth through an academic enrichment and arts-based literacy curriculum, emphasizing academic confidence, conflict resolution, interdependence, prevention of risk-taking behaviors, and respect for diversity. Each Monday and/or Wednesday (2:00 – 5:30 PM), tutors will support one or two students with their homework and then participate in group-wide workshop activities. SAS participants and volunteers also attend events like field trips and Family Fun Nights so that students, families, and volunteers can build meaningful relationships. SAS also builds upon connections made over the summer by providing programming for the same students served by the South Boston Outreach Summer program (SBOS, under Summer Programs). For more information, contact southieafterschool@gmail.com.
PBHA’s Roxbury Youth Initiative Term-Time strives to provide continuous, year-round academic and emotional support to youth of our summer program (Roxbury Youth Initiative). Our main focus is on homework and academic help and providing a safe, educational space for youth after the school day. We follow a model of positive youth development, seeking to build on youths’ strengths and community assets. Through hands on enrichment activities and field trips, RYIT allows participating youth to explore their neighborhood, gain academic skills and confidence, and learn from positive role models. For more information, please contact Erika Pierson (e.p.pierson@gmail.com) and Maria Centeio (mdcenteio@gmail.com).
PBHA’s Peer Health Exchange teaches health workshops to high school students who urgently need them. Peer Health Exchange’s mission is to give teenagers the knowledge and skills they need to make healthy decisions. We do this by training college students to teach a comprehensive health curriculum in public high schools that lack health education. This year, Harvard volunteers will reach 500 students. For more information, contact Madeleine Ballard (mballard@fas.harvard.edu) or Moises Gallegos (gallegos@fas.harvard.edu)
This post was written by admin on September 21, 2009
Posted Under:
Afterschool,
Health
PBHA’s Youth Recreation volunteers act as coaches and teachers for youth at Cambridge schools. We currently focus on two sports: basketball and swimming. Every Friday afternoon, we teach, coach, and play basketball with 4th – 6th grade students, and every Monday afternoon, we teach swimming to students at the Harvard MAC. Our programs emphasize having fun and raising confidence rather than merely perfecting a skill. For more information on the basketball program, please contact Billy Hubbard (billyhubbard12@gmail.com) or Matt Zapf (mazapf@fas.harvard.edu); for information on the swimming program, contact Erin Harrington (eharring@fas.harvard.edu) and Megan McGrath (mcgrath3@fas.harvard.edu).
PBHA’s S.A.B.E.S. (Spanish Acquisition Beginning in Elementary School) is an after school program that teaches Spanish at the Maria Baldwin School on Oxford Street. Our goal is to get kids excited about foreign language and culture from an early age through fun and creative exposure. We teach kindergarten through fifth grade in pairs on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 2:45-4:15. Our volunteers have all different backgrounds in Spanish–our only requirements are lots of enthusiasm for the language and a love of kids. For more information, please contact Caitlin Marquis (marquis@fas).
PBHA’s Mission Hill After-School Program (MHASP) was created in 1983 at the request of residents of the Mission Main and Alice Taylor housing developments in Roxbury. Serving 60 children (ages 5-14) divided into four age groups, MHASP volunteers strive to provide individual attention within a classroom setting, with both homework assistance and by working with the children on a creative curriculum designed by program Coordinators. Additionally, optional bi-weekly field trips to museums, cultural events, and recreational facilities enhance counselor-student relationships. Counselors work with the same 1 or 2 children for the entire semester to provide the most consistent and rewarding relationship. The time commitment is 3.5 hours a week during one afternoon Monday through Thursday. For more information or for an application, please contact Amanda Guardado at mission.hill.after.school@gmail.com.
PBHA’s Marshall After School Enrichment is an exciting new program addressing the need of academic after school support at the John Marshall Elementary School in Dorchester, MA. After Mayor Menino began the “Step Up Initiative” and identified the Marshall School as a priority for educational intervention, we piloted a program in the spring of 2008 and rolled out a full-scale program in the fall of 2008. We help third through fifth graders succeed academically– with an emphasis on reading and writing comprehension – by working closely with students on their homework and through a creative and individualized curriculum. The program also provides an engaging community, in which the children will develop strong relationships with the Harvard volunteers in the program. As our program resides directly within the Marshall School, we have access to teachers who are responsible for their day-to-day classes and learning. The program collaborates with the Harvard Achievement Support Initiative that provides us with additional trainings on child development, as well as many other valuable learning resources and support. Visit http://programs.pbha.org/masep/mission/ for more details, or contact Sarah Maxwell (smaxwell@fas.harvard.edu).
PBHA’s Keylatch Afterschool Program (KASP) works with an amazing group of children ages 5-11 from Boston’s South End, a low-income, predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood. Now in its 28th year, Keylatch has maintained deep ties with children, parents, and schools in the community. Children in the program experience valuable academic growth and enrichment as they develop strong relationships with their counselors and HAVE A GREAT TIME! Volunteers are required to commit at least 3 hours once a week. To learn more, please contact Stephanie Cole (scole11@college.harvard.edu), Karla Reyes (kareyes@fas), Robert Long (rgblong@fas), or Mark Kopelman (mkopelm@fas).
The Harvard College Youth Leadership Institute (HYLI) offers a leadership development program to middle school students from Cambridge public and charter schools. We focus on teaching our students essential leadership skills using hands-on, experiential learning techniques. The program takes place on-campus once a week and a variety of student groups serve as classroom guests throughout the semester. For more information please contact harvardcollegeyouthleadership@gmail.com or directors Elizabeth Fryman (emfryman@fas.harvard.edu) and Tom Wang (tomwang@fas.harvard.edu).
