This proposal is one of ten winning reports from the 1996 Oregon Better Government Competition. The 1994 and 1996 Competitions were organized by the Portland-based Cascade Policy Institute. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of Cascade staff or advisors, nor should they be construed as an attempt by Cascade Policy Institute to influence any election or legislation.
KidzArt: A Private Approach to Serving At-risk Youth
By Janet Y. Norwood
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
KidzArt, a private program initiated by one person and organized with a volunteer staff, reached out to low-income and at-risk youth with a singular purpose: To open their eyes to the world of opportunities through "Wonder and Discovery". KidzArt was a series of weekly activities, such as whale-watching, and visits to florists, television stations, dressmakers, wood carvers, and llama ranches.
Programs were held weekly for 1½ hours after school. There was no charge; the only obligation was that at least one parent attend with each child. Over an 18-month period, KidzArt enjoyed the participation of 200 parents and 153 youth, of which approximately fifty were teenagers, most of whom had been in trouble with the law, or were high school dropouts. The total cost of running the 18-month program was $276.
Of the teenagers who stayed with KidzArt for its duration, nearly half went back to high school or an alternative school on a regular basis; three graduated with their GED's during the program. Further, of the parents, eight left welfare to begin their own businesses, and several others enrolled in night school. A lesson learned from KidzArt: In our search for solutions to social problems we should consider those solutions that are simple and inexpensive.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Janet Y. Norwood graduated from UCLA with a degree in sociology. She has been a corporate president, a stockbroker, and director of several youth groups over the years. She currently organizes the Hospitality Discovery Tours for adults, both locals and tourists, in the Brookings area of Southwestern Oregon.
Introduction
What if someone told you that for just a few pennies a day you could help reduce juvenile crime, alcohol and drug abuse, welfare-dependent families, high school dropouts, teen pregnancies, and teen suicides? What if this idea was so simple that anyone could do it?
Among the ills and terrors released from Pandora's Box was a single virtue. This virtue, intended to counter despair and misery, was Hope. Today, Hope and words like Wonder, Discovery, Imagination and Creativity, are scarcely heard, while the rest of Pandora's legacy is all too evident. We hear words like Welfare, Entitlement, Deadbeat, and Poverty, but we do not hear about Hope.
In this paper the author will illustrate how one simple private program, KidzArt, reached out to low-income and at-risk youth, and gave them Hope by opening their eyes to the world of opportunities through "Wonder and Discovery".
Imagination
The project began in Brookings, a small, coastal, Oregon town. Although the program was designed primarily for low-income families, it could just as easily be adapted for use in drug treatment centers, and by community-based organizations that help the homeless, disabled, seniors, or victims of domestic violence.
In January 1993, I was asked by our local children's librarian to teach an after school class in junk and recycled art. Each spring, the local library was host to outside teachers and speakers on a variety of subjects ranging from the study of dinosaur bones to star gazing. Youth of all ages were invited to attend with their parents. The programs were offered free of charge and were tremendously successful.
The topic of my particular two-hour program was titled Wild Things from the children's book, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. In preparation for the event, several local businesses were asked to donate materials.
On the afternoon of the class each child and parent were seated at a library table. In front of them sat the donated materials. As their instructor, I explained they had a half-hour to make a monster, that it was important to be creative, to share the supplies, and that each child would have the opportunity to name his monster, to tell the others where it came from, and what it did for a living.
For the first five minutes, no one moved. "How do we begin?" one youth finally asked. I explained that the best way was to "just dig in and create something like a spaceman, or a robot, or perhaps a Tarkentangella from the Planet of Nebulous." "What's a Tarkentangella?" one child asked. "Where's Nebulous"? another youth asked. "That's just in my imagination," I replied. "What's an imagination?" asked another. "It's an idea," I told them, "something that you just think up, like the name Tarkentangella, something wonderful, fantastic unusual..."
None of the children seemed to understand the concept of imagination. Finally, I grabbed an empty cup, poked a hole in the bottom, stuck a straw through the hole, and stuck a feather inside the straw. I turned the cup over, created an ugly face on its side, and said, "This is a Tarkentangella from the planet Nebulous. It hangs from trees and eats noodles." For the next half-hour children and parents were glued to their seats. Each child stood up and told a story about their monster. Children and adults alike appeared spellbound throughout the class.
Parents called for two weeks following the class to thank me for providing a "highlight of their children's lives." More importantly, they wanted to know when it would happen again.
Creativity
All successful programs need a dedicated organizer. Taking the bull by the horns, I met the directors of the Brookings Head Start program. With nothing more than an idea and a willingness to make it work, I talked them into allowing me a half-hour with 40 preschool students. My own qualifications as a one-time amateur art instructor at the local library gave me the experience I needed. Paints, trays and paper were collected. There were sparkles in their eyes and smiles on the pre-schoolers faces as tiny toes wiggled in trays of paint. Each artist signed his work, and I went around to local art galleries to see if they would offer space for the posters. Seven galleries turned me down, but the eighth donated an entire wall and came up with a catchy title for the "exhibition", KidzArt. Feeling that this was a step in the right direction, I continued my efforts with KidzArt and approached both children and galleries in an effort to continue the project.
Over the next few months, frustration began to set in. Several galleries had offered to donate space, but I was unable to inspire young artists to bring in their work. So, in an effort to increase participation, several local businesses were contacted and asked to donate cash prizes. With $50 offered to the winners, newspaper publicity, and the chance to hang their work in a local gallery, KidzArt became a series of contests. Art began to come in, but still only two or three per contest.
I headed off to see the art teacher at our local middle school. He explained, given his experiences with many of his students, many young people today simply have no idea how to be creative. I wondered if Creativity was as important as Hope, and, if it was, how could the two be linked?
An article in a local newspaper regarding the elimination of programs for at-risk youth began to concern me. Many children affected by these budget cuts exhibited characteristics of what social workers call Level 7 behavior. This includes homelessness, drug and/or alcohol problems, dysfunctional family behavior, truancy, health problems, suicidal tendencies, sexual abuse, lack of appropriate role models, physical abuse, feelings of isolation, and delinquency. The question that I kept asking was, "How could I, as an outsider, reach into the heart of a low-income area and attract parents and youth to participate?"
At about this time I became involved with the Banana Belt Youth Program. This was a small program which met weekly in the evenings, and amounted to not much more than a babysitting service. I spent time working with the children on art projects, doing what I could to help inspire them, but it wasn't until the suggestion to go on a field trip was made, that I saw real promise.
I organized a group tour with teens and parents to the local Coast Guard station. Working together, parents alongside children took hands-on lessons in rope tying, wet suit try-ons, and boat steering. Both the children and the parents were genuinely involved in the activities, and throughout the afternoon, their attention did not waver. The link between Creativity and Hope had been uncovered, it was Discovery.
In the summer of 1993, as the art contests began to pick up interest, I received a call from a parent asking me to help organize a more detailed program. At the first meeting, we organized weekly Discovery Trips, held every Monday after school from 3:30 to 5:00pm. Recognizing the need for active participation, a Teen Board was elected to handle discipline problems and help plan future events. One unexpected rule decided upon by both youth and parents required that every young person from the age of 3-18 attending a function be accompanied by a parent or adult sponsor over the age of 21. Parents and youth attending the first meeting dug into their pockets for change, and with just $21.20 the Brookings experiment in wonder and discovery had begun.
Discovery
Because neither the funds, nor the time existed to form a non-profit organization, we contacted other community organizations with non-profit status about taking us on. We didn't have to look far. Within two weeks after our first meeting, the prestigious Brookings Area Council of the Arts asked us to become an active part of their organization. This allowed us to open a bank account and receive donations.
We organized a schedule of activities, plus took on a special project: To remodel a home in the neighborhood, with teens working side-by-side with local contractors using materials donated from local building supply houses. Twelve teens, their parents and two area contractors helped with the project. The renovation took three months to complete, and the project was an outstanding success. The teens added a new roof, paint, weatherstripping, a porch, front steps, and landscaping.
With an ongoing project and regularly-scheduled weekly events, we now had a steady supply of activities for our youth. Contests with cash prizes helped generate enthusiasm and publicity, and with several projects running concurrently, we were able to help more children, and give them choices.
Among all of these activities, the most exciting part came from the after school Discovery Monday Tours, where children from the ages of 3-18 joined with their parents for voyages of wonder and discovery. The group went everywhere and did just about everything. We:
The participants also:
Often times surprises helped create the magic of an event. A Valentine's Day visit to a local floral shop didn't spark interest until the children were allowed to arrange floral bouquets for their parents. A visit to a llama ranch attracted a great deal of attention and a high attendance, but it was the unexpected birth of a baby llama that made the moment magical.
I felt that an invitation to visit a denture maker would be dull and uninteresting for our youth, especially the youngest members. But the miniature carving being done by the professional denture maker was as fascinating for the children as anything else we had done.
The key to KidzArt's success was the variety of programs covering different subjects. With a little imagination, we were able to take otherwise ordinary ideas and turn them into extraordinary events. In today's electronic age, people are used to passive entertainment: movies, TV, and computer games. They aren't used to hands-on experiences that test all of their senses. With live actors and real interaction, it only took the smallest effort to grab and hold everyone's attention.
The KidzArt programs offered rewards and incentives for participation, but it wasn't the cash prizes that inspired them; it was the individual recognition each received from entering. Along with individual attention, recognition became, over the duration of the KidzArt programs, the single most important factor in the lives of our youth, and their parents. Every program we offered fostered a sense of pride in accomplishment and a curiosity about what lay over the next hill or around the next corner. The teens confided that they often "Spent Tuesday through Sunday just waiting for the next Discovery Monday to occur."
Hope & Results
During the 11 months the KidzArt Discovery Monday Tours were held and the 18 months that we held contests, more than 153 youth attended or participated, along with over 200 parents, grandparents, and guardians. Forty-nine businesses contributed time, money and knowledge to the program.
Of those teens who stayed with the program over the entire 11 months, 22 returned to public schools or sought out alternative schools. Three graduated with their GED's during the 11-month KidzArt Program.
We held a parent-youth evaluation meeting just six weeks into the program. Comments were favorable and with constructive criticism, we were able to respond quickly and avoid any negative experiences. One parent was amazed that we had no discipline problems; it was simply because everyone's attention was held, everyone was having fun, and everyone mattered.
There were no formal attempts to encourage our drop-out students to go back to school, nor were there ever suggestions that families on welfare go back to work. In KidzArt, the only pressures were those put on kids by their own goals. The only deadlines were those of contest entries. In KidzArt, parents and youth knew they were accepted "as they were", and there were no formal attempts to change or rearrange them. These families had been used to many disappointments throughout their lives and we tried to prevent that from happening in any of our programs. KidzArt built hope.
Two months after KidzArt began, I heard from the parents of two high school teens with a record of truancy. Both had quietly, on their own, enrolled full-time in an alternative learning center to bring their grades back up.
In addition, several more parents called to say they had refused their last welfare check and were now back at work part-time. They said it was possible only because they had been exposed to "a world of opportunities unknown prior to the visits to local businesses."
The oldest member of KidzArt was a boy of 18 who had been in and out of trouble with the law for many years. He was made the unofficial leader of the home remodeling job, and therefore was responsible for organizing work crews, finding materials from building supply houses, and talking to contractors about helping with the project. He rose to the occasion. As soon as the home was completed, he signed on permanently as an apprentice to a local contracting firm. He also enrolled in the alternative school to get his GED.
Three months after KidzArt began, one mother decided, on her own, to get her high school diploma. Three of our grade school children won awards in art at the State level. Following a visit to a local veterinarian, one of the oldest teenage girls made a commitment to go on to college to be a veterinarian. After a Forest Service program, several of our teens became interested in forestry, and two teenage boys expressed a great desire to enter the Coast Guard after we held a tour of its facilities. The experiment to combine Creativity and Discovery was working! It was building Hope.
The parents who stayed with the program fared as well as the children:
Three of the teens did not make it. Years of family problems, alcohol and drug abuse, and lack of parental interest led two girls and one boy to drop out of the program. These were our "failures", and they are troubling, but no program, despite the best of intentions and the greatest of care, can be 100% successful. The strength of a program, especially one designed to help, is how it rebounds from setbacks. In the KidzArt program we did not allow ourselves to be discouraged. Hope kept us going and helped pull the vast majority of our participants into a better, brighter world.
The KidzArt program was designed to be an experiment in dealing with at-risk youth. After 18 months it had accomplished everything it hoped to on a budget of only $276 (not including donated prize money and materials). The concept of a low-cost discovery program had a foothold in our community. Others jumped in with programs for youth based on many of the ideas we generated in KidzArt.
Building Upon the KidzArt Concept
Following the end of the KidzArt program, I began twice-monthly Saturday Safari Tours for adults. The tours were free to all who attended.
The tours were divided into three separate categories; nature hikes or visits to scenic locations; historical museums or places of interest; and tours of local businesses. Schedules were created for a three-month period. Publicity included local and out-of-town newspapers, radio and TV stations, and local community boards. Generally, the tours lasted two hours and were held on Saturdays.
In June 1996, the group changed its name to the Hospitality Tours, and broadened its events to include neighboring towns such as Gold Beach, Oregon, and Crescent City, California. Hospitality Tours, like KidzArt, is run on a shoestring budget; its only expenses are for printing and postage to notify the media of upcoming events. Most important of all, the magic, wonder, and discovery of new people and places are alive and well on the South Oregon Coast.
Programs Similar to KidzArt
With the success of the KidzArt program, and interest growing in the Hospitality Tours, I became interested in learning how other communities handle recreation programs; both in the types of programs offered, and in the price charged per student. A number of similar projects are working around the country, providing support, inspiration and hope to at-risk children and families. Most of these programs rely on volunteers and have minimal costs.
Orange County Marine Institute
The Orange County Marine Institute, located at Dana Point Harbor, offers year-round courses in all aspects of marine history and biology. Besides their more than 60 different programs, the Center serves more than 100,000 students annually. While there is a charge for student participation, often times schools, especially in the inner cities, cannot pay their way. The Institute, under the direction of Harry Helling, operates on tuition fees, donations, fundraising events, and corporate matching funds; no taxpayer dollars are spent. Scholarships and discounts are available so that no young person is turned away due to an inability to pay.
Helling calls his programs, "Experimental Education". They began approximately 15 years ago to serve that area's school-age children. The original program consisted of a floating sea laboratory and one small classroom; it offered weekly summer programs for youth of all ages. Now the Institute has its own center, a state-of-the-art floating sea laboratory, overnight camp-out programs on Catalina Island, and a replica of an 1880's schooner The Pilgrim. The Institute also holds classes at a nearby ranch, on board the world's oldest merchant ship, The Star of India, and visits schools throughout Orange County. The two large classrooms at the Institute offer tide-pool exploration and a number of scientific projects on a year-round basis.
National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship
The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship based in New York is a private organization that has reached over 10,000 students, most of them from the inner city. The NFTE (pronounced "nifty") program teaches at-risk and low-income teens about the world of entrepreneurship by helping them develop and operate their own small businesses. Through the training classes, teens learn communication skills, money management, and other aspects of running a business, which in turn leads to self-esteem and self-sufficiency. NFTE also provides venture capital, community business networking, on-going training, computer access, and field trips to local businesses.
NFTE's success stories are impressive. Today, the NFTE alumni boast a credible list of new business owners, including the president of a dress design company, a home based catering business, a cleaning supply company, and a 13 year old who owns her own jewelry design company. These young people are now hard working individuals, providing jobs and setting examples for their peers.
Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor, in Jacksonville, Florida, takes young criminal offenders directly from the courts. Instead of going to prison, they spend anywhere from one to three years on-board sailing vessels where they learn to sail and repair the ships. The Safe Harbor program includes a school that offers strict discipline along with lessons in honesty, integrity, hard work and responsibility. No state or federal funding is used.
Salvation Army's Softball Team
In Portland, Oregon, the downtown Salvation Army created a drop-in center for teens, and along with it, rallied young men and women from the streets to join their newly formed softball team. With help from private donations and corporate sponsors, the team is providing an alternative to gangs, violence and drugs.
Cookie Cart
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sister Jean Thuerauf founded Cookie Cart because she wanted a way to get youth off the streets and out of trouble. She issued a challenge to the children: Bake cookies and raise $5,000. If they did, she would establish a bakery for them. In two years, they had their store. As Sister Jean states, "I know these children are not all going to become bakers, but if we can just put them on the road to finding something they like, then they'll pick a career satisfying to them. The important thing is that they realize their lives have many possibilities, and it's up to them to make responsible choices."
Each of these programs is making a difference in people's live that can be seen, heard, and felt. While we look for solutions to our problems, it is vitally important that we not forget that many times, simpler is better. Programs like those above provide hope for at-risk children and their families by showing them what can be possible in their lives. They foster independence, growth, and more importantly, a coherent sense of community.
How to Create a KidzArt Program in Your Community
First, if you see a problem, take action, or join a group that is. Do not wait for others, take action. An on-going formal program for groups is not necessary to give a person Hope. You can "adopt" a child for a day and take her to a museum, a place of business, a university, and so forth. Every place and everything is a learning experience with a little Imagination, even people watching from a park bench.
The most important resource you have is your own imagination. Experience is sometimes overrated. To make a difference in your community, you don't need an advanced degree in social work, or city planning, you don't need millions, or even thousands of dollars. I started KidzArt with one-day's volunteer teaching experience at the local library. Keep your ideas simple and before long, you will be headed for success.
Pick a target group. Youth, the elderly, nursing home patients, anyone you want to help. Once you designate your target group, make a list of personal friends, acquaintances or community leaders you might contact for help in setting up your organization. Consider working within an existing organization, many non-profits are understaffed and wish they could do more. Contact centers or schools, existing organizations that service your target group, most will be interested in working with you.
Set goals. Decide how you will run the program. Decide on what days and hours you will be open. Establish a consistent schedule. If you are sponsoring events and outside trips, make alternate plans for each event. Include a variety of events and functions, bring in experts and specialists to help. Pick up a phone book and just start calling. Better still, pay your potential speaker a personal visit. Most people are willing to help, and businesses love the publicity. Try the Chamber of Commerce, the local newspaper, and other area business organizations. A local tourist board is a wonderful asset to planning trips and coordinating events. With each event, program, or activity ask yourself if it builds toward your goals.
Get a PO Box for mail. Make sure the contact phone can take messages. Keep a log of calls and contacts. Keep an address and telephone list of regular attendees. Even basic record keeping will simplify recruiting, publicity, and program coordination.
Give your contacts good lead time to prepare for your group's visit. Call them again several days in advance of the event as a reminder. Always send them a "Thank You" card following their participation. Do the same for all guests or speakers coming to you.
Write articles for the local media. Make a list of local publications that will place notices about your activities in their Calendar of Events. Place your schedule on community bulletin boards, in apartment house laundry rooms, stores, or coffee houses. Contact teachers for recommendations of students who might benefit from your activities.
Evaluate the program on a continual basis. Ask participants for feedback and suggestions. Use their ideas in planning and scheduling.
Evaluate the progress of your participants. Keep track of number of school days missed, books read, or whatever criteria you establish as measurement of individual progress. Use this monitoring to provide positive reinforcement for participants, and use it as a benchmark of program success. This information will be helpful in securing guests, or raising funds, whether big or small. Donors want to know that they are giving their time, money, or materials to a cause that's working. Anecdotal stories are also helpful.
Involve your young participants in the development of the organization. Allow them the opportunity to learn leadership and organizational skills.
Taking the first step towards organizing any new program often seems to be the most difficult. One of our young KidzArt members had a simple solution. "The first step", he said, "should be the easiest. All you do is pick up your right foot and place it down in front of you. The left foot just naturally wants to follow. That's it!" He was so excited about his idea, he charged people $1 each just to learn "the first and most important step to success."
A true entrepreneur. It's amazing what a little imagination can do.
Conclusion
KidzArt did not supply bags of food, give large amounts of cash, or provide shelter. KidzArt was designed to help at-risk youth find a window of hope in their lives by showing them ptions are available. Through the projects, art contests, and especially the weekly tours, the children discovered a world of possibilities.
The youth who participated in the KidzArt programs learned self-esteem, organizational skills while they helped direct the program, and built confidence. They changed their lives through their own effort and involvement. They made the difference. Dropouts went back to school, others, including parents, made commitments and found potential vocations.
Programs like KidzArt help in a small but powerful way. They have a simple and clear message: We don't need big budgets, we don't need government programs, we don't need large organizations, we only need the desire to help. The first step is the smallest and the greatest: opening doors to opportunity. We can make a difference.
REFERENCES
Sister Jean Thuerauf
Cookie Cart
1919 Emerson Ave. N.
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55411
(612) 529-2393
National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship
120 Wall Street, 29th Floor
New York, NY 10005
(212) 232-3333.
Orange County Marine Institute
24200 Dana Point Harbor Drive
Dana Point, California 92629
(714) 496-2274.
Greenhouse for Youth
Salvation Army
820 SW Oak
Portland, Oregon 97205
(503) 239-1245.
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