PROJECT SUMMARIES

A total of 285 students participated in the program, 225 students during the regular school term and 60 students attended summer school, and took the Breathe Easy! pledge to stay tobacco free. The main objective of this program was to instill effective decision making through critical thinking skills, with concentration on knowledge, attitudes and skills to prevent tobacco use, promote health and self-care and prevent the onset of chronic diseases related to the use of tobacco. Volunteers from the Engelwood Park Neighborhood Association called the parents of the students involved in Breathe Easy! to explain the intent of the program and to encourage their involvement. Parents were also mailed program information.

This program, designed to address the prevention of smoking, provided a tool to stimulate exploration and discovery of the students’ ability to gather information and facts related to issues of peer pressure, stress management and sound decision making.  Through formal and informal discussions and pre and post tests, it was evident that students had acquired skills to make good decisions related to tobacco, drug and alcohol use, sexual encounters, skipping school, and other high risk behaviors.

Edgewater High School and College Park Neighborhood Association partnered to provide career counseling for high school juniors.  Members of the College Park Neighborhood Association volunteered 300 hours to serve as professional mentors for the students and to provide tutoring assistance.  “Project Direction” assisted 129 students with career counseling and increased community involvement between Edgewater High School students and members of College Park Neighborhood Association. 

Hillcrest Language Lab was established to meet the needs of non-English speaking students and students who desired to learn another language.  The Lab features interactive multi-media language programs and is open before, during and after school hours to students, parents and neighborhood residents. Volunteers from the Lake Lawsona Neighborhood assisted in the lab.

By the end of the 1999/2000 school year approximately 250 students have participated in the Language Lab.  As a result of the Language Lab students at Hillcrest Elementary increased their scores on the Foreign Language Novice Proficiency Checklist by 80% and the end of year report card grades in English for those non-English speaking students increased by one to two letter grades. 

The Early Intervention Program in Reading, Writing and Mathematics provided tutoring services to students in Kindergarten through Third Grade. Tutoring sessions were held during school hours two days a week for two hours a day. Students worked one on one with volunteers, in groups of four and in pairs while integrating technology into reading, writing and mathematics.

Rock Lake Neighborhood Association and a group of retired and active teachers from Phi Delta Kappa Sorority volunteered in classrooms to assist teachers with the implementation of this project.  Over three hundred students from kindergarten to third grade participated in the project. The project resulted in students having an increased interest reading and students read several books each week.  The students were motivated to publish journals using the computer as a tool.  In addition teachers reported an increased number of students completing book reports and those students’ grades increased by one letter grade. 

The Teen Development program provided structured after school programs for Carver and Memorial Middle School students.  The program provided positive, supervised programs as an alternative for latchkey students. The curriculum included a focus on exercise, etiquette, social skills, and team building. The J.U.T.E. staff and volunteers created the program applications, parent packets, a program logo and the Teen Development Pledge.

A total of 70 students participated in the program and were empowered to take charge of their education.  Twenty-five students went from an absentee rate of 45% to perfect attendance for the remainder of the school year.  Nine students went from “C” students to being placed on the Dean’s Honor Roll.  School administration and parents were truly pleased with the positive outcomes as a result of this program.