P O T
Teen Outreach Program Newsletter The Final Edition— Spring 2015
The Teen Outreach Program (TOP) Says Goodbye
This spring brings an end to the five-year grant that has funded the Teen Outreach Program in Portland and Salem schools since 2010. Thank you to everyone who participated in, hosted, and supported our work over the years. Our program has seen many great successes worthy of celebration.
North Salem
Salem TOP
Madison
About TOP TOP combines in-class lessons and volunteer work, in a year-long program that helps teens build positive relationships and make healthier decisions. It has been proven to help reduce unintended teen pregnancies, school dropouts, school suspensions, and course failure rates. • TOP meets once a week throughout the school year to help students learn and practice life skills such as communication, decision making, teamwork, project planning, and healthy relationships. • TOP emphasizes youth-led volunteer projects to help develop individual strengths, learn career skills, feel more connected to their school and community, and believe that they can have a positive impact in the world. Each TOP student volunteers a minimum of 20 hours throughout the year.
Since September 2010, TOP students have been making a difference in their communities. 10 Oregon schools have hosted TOP and 4,347 students have actively participated in the program. Volunteer work is an important part of the TOP experience— In the last five years, TOP students have volunteered 46,246 hours, saving local, non-profit organizations $427,776.* Students have initiated an impressive 487 community service projects and partnered with 93 community groups. * Based on volunteer hours valued at $9.25 an hour
91% of TOP students say that service projects helped make a positive difference in their life and the lives of others.
Madison
McKay
Madison
Jefferson
Grant
Benson Roosevelt
Student evaluations show: 97% of students say their TOP Facilitator supports and accepts them. 96% of students say their TOP Facilitator cares about them.
One of the biggest factors in helping young people lead healthier lives is the presence of a caring adult role model. The more positive relationships young people have with adults (including parents or guardians, family members, teachers, coaches and faith leaders) the better. In TOP, students build strong bonds with their TOP Facilitator throughout the year.
HIGH SCHOOL UPDATES BENSON HIGH SCHOOL
TOP students are leading service projects to address many community concerns, including: raising money for animal shelters, creating an awareness campaign about sex trafficking, organizing a canned food drive and planning a College and Career Fair to help more students learn about options after high school.
GRANT HIGH SCHOOL
Students have been working in small groups to plan community service projects focused on areas of our community they want to positively impact. To help animals, students made toys for dogs by braiding fabric. Other students have served food at Clay Street Table downtown. Students concerned about the environment have cleaned up Grant Park, volunteered with Friends of Trees and Portland Fruit Tree Project, and many volunteered to clean up the Oregon Coast at the end of April.
JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL
Students interested in working with kids volunteered with Playworks during a volleyball camp for young girls. Others interested in helping the environment volunteered with Friends of Trees by planting trees in area neighborhoods and at the Oregon Coast for a beach clean up. Each TOP class planned and led service projects during the school lunch time and invited other students to participate. Projects included making blankets and bandanas with adoption messages for dogs, creating super-hero capes for sick children in the hospital, and organizing a clothing drive.
LEP HIGH SCHOOL
Students are making hygiene kits to donate to a homeless shelter and coloring books to give to children in transitional housing. In order to help animal hunger, some students coined the term ‘entrepretreats,’ and will be making animal treats to donate to local shelters.
MADISON HIGH SCHOOL
We have nine TOP groups and all of them are busy planning many new service projects! By the end of the school year students will be cleaning up trash at the Oregon Coast, present and teach at an HIV/STD prevention school event, pulling ivy in Forest Park, building a home with Habitat for Humanity, serving food at a soup kitchen and handing out hygiene kits, raising money for Autism research, playing with kids at nearby elementary schools, volunteering at a local retirement and throwing them a “Senior Prom”, and socializing with animals at shelters and donating homemade animal toys, treats, and blankets.
MCKAY HIGH SCHOOL
Students are helping their community by serving at Community Homeless Connect, leading activities with the Spring Break Lunch Program, picking up trash at Gleneden Beach wayside with the annual SOLVE beach clean-up, delivering food boxes at North Gate Church, cleaning up and maintaining McKay park, making cards for patients at Salem hospital, making and delivering toy and bed donations for the Willamette Humane Society, helping prepare newsletters for Friends of Felines, setting up for the annual book fair fundraiser at YMCA, and walking in the awareness event and fundraising for March of Dimes.
NORTH SALEM HIGH SCHOOL
Students have been working hard this semester! Hunger and homelessness have been major focuses of our community service work. We have spent time focusing on the issues facing people experiencing homelessness in our area. Several students have become regular volunteers at the Northgate Church’s bimonthly Food Box Distribution Program, helping to set up for the event and interacting with people coming in. We had over 60 students attend the annual SOLVE beach clean-up event, where they put in a great deal of effort into revitalizing Gleneden Beach in Lincoln City, OR. In class, we have focused on effective communication skills and effective time management.
ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL
students are making hygiene kits to donate to local homeless shelters, animal toys and treats to donate to the Oregon Humane Society, and creating homemade coloring books to give to children. They are also planning a ‘Senior Prom’ for the elderly and plan to invite residents from Assumption Village Retirement Home, located across the street from the school, to come and dance, socialize, and have fun.
LOOKING BACK
A note from our Vice President of Education
TOP MEMORIES TOP Facilitators share some of their favorite recollections
“I’ve seen several of my old students hold school leadership positions the year after they finished TOP!”
“Many of my TOP students have told me about finding jobs or internships because of their volunteer experience they got with TOP.”
“My favorite memory was watching a student, who had never worked with the elderly before, enjoy spending time with this community, request more volunteer opportunities with this population, receive many compliments from the organization itself for her great work, and then the following year apply for work in a senior community. I was honored to recommend her for this position and delighted to witness her transformation.”
“My students get very committed to volunteering! I have had students travel an hour and half on public transit on the weekend to come to service projects and help their community.”
“In class we have an anonymous question box so students can feel safe asking questions they might not normally ask an adult. On several occasions after a lesson, I have gotten some comments that say, ‘This is really helpful’ and ‘I love TOP!’ ”
“My favorite part about teaching TOP is seeing students at the beginning of the year who have their heads down on the desks and don’t say much, and by the end of the year are excited on TOP days and are signing up for volunteer projects.”
Looking back over the last 5 years of TOP implementation, it is amazing to note how much was collectively accomplished by the program participants along with the support and guidance of teachers, school and district staff and administrators, parents, community partners and our team of TOP facilitators. We are so honored to be a part of the lives of 4,347 TOP student participants around the Salem and Portland communities. TOP implementation has been a journey full of successes, challenges, and many lessons learned. Through it all, we feel very proud of the hard work our educators have accomplished and inspired by what students have gained and given back to their communities. We have received positive feedback from students, teachers, parents, and community partners as you about the impact TOP has made in our communities. Thank you to all of the schools who have hosted the program, community organizations who have partnered with us, and students and parents who have stayed engaged in the work of TOP. We would not have been as successful without your ongoing support and participation! While our TOP funding is ending in June, we look forward to finding ways to support the work being done in pregnancy prevention and youth development while empowering young people to lead healthy lives. Camelia E. Hison Vice President of Education
Administrative Contact 503.775.4931 x 2346 education@ppcw.org www.ppcw.org www.wymancenter.org This project is supported by Grant Number TP1AH000075 from the Office of Adolescent Health. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Office of Adolescent Health, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, or the Department of Health and Human Services.