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Education & Youth
This component operates all of CTE's programs for young people, from 5 years of age through high school. All of our youth programs have an academic, recreational and social focus.
Over 90% of the young people in the South End participated in CTE programs last year through Tomorrow's Promise After-School Program. |
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- Summer Enrichment Program
- Lathon Wider Community Center Activities
- Elementary After-School Program (Elementary School)
- Intermediate After-School Program (Middle School)
- GEMS (Girls Excelling in Math and Science)
- Mighty Might Basketball League (Ages 9-13)
- Open Gym / Computer Lab
- Teen Center
Purpose
CTE, Inc. has established the CTE Academy to offer after-school enrichment that will help students increase their academic achievement, cultural awareness, and technological skills.
Elementary & Middle School After-School Program
CTE, Inc. developed the CTE Academy to serve as Tomorrow's Promise After-School Program that provides academic enrichment, social development, community awareness and recreation for grades K-12. Specific objectives of the Academy are:
- Offering homework assistance and personalized attention in an effort to increase and maintain school success
- Incorporating technology into daily program in order to ensure each student has computer literacy.
- Providing character-building, personal empowerment and conflict resolution programs, in an effort to help each student develop self-confidence and increase skills in pro-social behavior
- Providing diversity and cultural awareness training in an effort to improve race, ethnic and cultural sensitivity
- Maintaining a strong alignment with youth programming and the local Board of Education
- We connect our participants to various community activities. We are actively involved in various community events, such as the Hope in Motion Cancer Walk, South End Clean-ups, Thanksgiving Day Parade, Spring Gardening Day, Toys for Tots and the Salvation Army Back Pack Give Away.
Staffing: Director, Head Teacher, Youth Workers, Youth Tech Worker, Teachers and Administrator Coordinator.
Students are enrolled from multiple schools in two age groupings: grades K-5 and grades 6-12. The elementary program focuses on homework assistance and Tutoring Achieves. The students also participate in the following activities: Girl Scouts, arts & crafts, Reading Club and a variety of recreational and cultural activities. The middle school program focuses on youth development through the following: Technology training, Anti-gang discussions, youth entrepreneur training, recreational activities, Peer to Peer, community service, cultural development activities, creative writing, monthly field trips and a variety of other programming opportunities.
The middle school students will also participate in a technology program called the "Mouse Squad". These students along with staff will be guided through the Mouse Squad training and certification processes. The curriculum addresses both technical training (workstation, printer and network trouble-shooting and maintenance) and help desk operations training. The technology literacy and workforce readiness skills targeted by Mouse Squad are in alignment with stat and federal standards, including the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) and National Education Technology Standards (NETS). The purpose of these standards is to define what students need to understand and be able to do with technology in order to be prepared for life in the 21st century. The Mouse Squad curriculum is also correlated to both middle and high school performance standards in Math, Science, Technology (MST), English Language Arts (ELA), Social Studies (SS), the Applied Learning Standards along with the New York City Technology Standards, and Career Development and Occupational Studies (CDOS) for the state of New York.
A number of other youth programs have been established by CTE to further expand opportunities for involvement of area students:
- Reading Club: This program runs during the school year. The south end branch of the Ferguson Library gives all students in the after-school program an opportunity to participate in this program once a week. The library staff picks out a book to be read that day. Once they are finishing reading the book they have the opportunity to ask questions and to discuss what was read. Books are picked out according to a monthly theme at times.
- Mighty Might Basketball League: Fosters lasting ties between members of the community and the city police department that provides volunteers. The goal of the league is to teach participating youth how to have fun while learning about teamwork, dedication, and hard work. The league lasts 12 weeks and is co-ed with students divided into two groups (5-9 years old and 10-12 years old). The principles of the league are related to academic endeavors and future aspirations of higher education and employment.
- Jackie Robinson Baseball Program: 3- month program designed to foster team building and athletic skills through a semi-competitive environment.
- Dance Program: This is program is run during the school year. This program is designed to teach the fundamentals and discipline of dance (hip hop, modern and ballet).
- The Music Studio: High School students learn to make music using computers and produce a group CD of their work. Participants collaborate to prepare a student-written manual of what they learn during the course of the program.
- GEMS (Girl's Excelling in Math and Science): This program was designed for middle school girls in the south end of Stamford. The purpose of the program is to increase the academic performance of 18 of these girls through individualized concentration on science, math and technology. In addition to giving them a grater opportunity for positive social development through workshops highlighting body image, self-esteem, and activities that magnify one's cultural importance. The goal is to prepare them to succeed in middle and high school math, science and technology courses and possibly even beyond.
- Enlighten the Mind: This book club is funded by the Connecticut Light and Power is for elementary, middle and high school youth and their families. The books are selected for grades 1st - 12th grade. This program offered in collaboration with the Ferguson Library was designed to encourage the family to read together and then have a forum to discuss the books and the issues that it raises that come up in the young person's every day life. Dinner and babysitting is also included with the program.
- Tutoring Achieves (Stamford Achieves): Students in grades 1st through 5th grade participate in this program 3 times a week in reading and math. There are certified teachers who come in to do the tutoring.
- Sound Waters: Students in grades K - 5th will have the opportunity to talk about the Long Island Sound. They participate in discussions about the water and the different creatures that live in the water.
- Teen Center: This program focuses on youth development through the following: college planning, SAT training, rap sessions, tutoring, one on one mentoring, technology training, recreational activities, community service, cultural development activities, creative writing, monthly field trips and a variety of other programming opportunities. The hours of the teen center: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday evening - 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. and Saturday afternoon - 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. - September - June. Summer hours will be posted at a later date.
- CTE Summer Academy (K -8th): This program will serve about approximately 80 students between the ages of 5 to 13 participate in academic enrichment and educational field trips and structured recreational activities. The program is held for 6 weeks between 9:00am and 5:00pm with academic enrichment in the morning and swimming/recreation/cultural activities in the afternoon.
Outcomes
Tomorrow's Promise After-School Program:
Academic:
CTE bases the success of the program on the academic success of our students. Comparing the 2008 fall and 2009 mid-year report card results for 69 of the children in the After School Program:
- Reading Grades K - 5: 88% maintained or increased their standing
- Math Grades K-2: 100% maintained or increased their standing
- Math Grades 3 - 5: 95% maintained or increased their standing
- Stamford Achieves: 14 CTE students received 30 hours of tutoring increasing their reading/math scores by an average of 19%.
- Options Publishing Grade Specific Pre-and Post-Tests Administered by CTE: 65 CTE students increased their reading/math scores by an average of 19%.
Attendance:
CTE also measures the effectiveness of the program by the number of students who attend on a regular basis. During the 2008/09 school year, an average of 55 students attended on a daily basis.
Parent Involvement:
CTE measures parental involvement through attendance at twice monthly evening parent meetings offered in Spanish and English. One monthly meeting focuses on education related issues and the other on topics requested by the parents such as health and wellness, earned income tax credits, HUSKY health insurance, financial literacy and more.
GEMS (Girl's Excelling in Math and Science)
83% of the students have increased their academic performance through individualized focus on science, math and technology skills
The Music Studio
40% of young adults who participated in the program learned how to write lyrics, produce songs, market products and learn the music working language. Some of the students participated in a show case event here at CTE, Inc with music producer Chubb Rock
Mighty Might
80% of the students have improved their social skills in sportsmanship and respect
Jackie Robinson Baseball Program
70% of the students have improved their social skills in sportsmanship and respect
CTE Summer Academy
80% of the students have improved their social skills and behavior skills
For more information, please contact:
Lisa James, Director, at (203) 352-4880
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Lisa James, Director
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