The Urban Social Empowerment Collective, a new city-sponsored initiative, plans to unite community organizations and schools to enrich the lives of high school students outside of class.
The program promotes "the healthy development of our high school youth through the creation of exciting, high quality after-school programming," Mayor David Cicilline '83 said in a Jan. 8 press release. The effort is intended to build on the success of the city's AfterZone program for middle school students.
The Urban Social Empowerment Collective is made up of 10 local non-profits, including AS220, the Steel Yard and the Providence Youth Student Movement.
The collective, which received a $100,000 grant from the city and federal government to organize the program this year, will work in conjunction with Providence community organizations, businesses and higher education institutions. The goal is to design "a system that is innovative yet relevant and achievable" in a 10-month planning period, Jonny Skye Njie, one of the coordinators, told The Herald. After the Collective submits a comprehensive plan for the initiative in October, a one- to three-year pilot phase will lead to full implementation of the program.
Skye Njie said the collective anticipates a role for college students and has been in touch with the Swearer Center for Public Service as well as the Art and Design program at Rhode Island School of Design.
"We know that young adults in this city are really excited about extended learning opportunities that don't necessarily look the same as the school day," said Michelle Duso, Skye Njie's co-director. "And of course there are tons of roles that college students could play in supporting that work."
In addition to academic tutoring, Duso said undergraduates may help high school students develop skills in the arts, trade, community organizing and other fields.
Though Skye Njie said college students could "potentially be more effective with high school-aged students than adults," she added they are "a transitional population ... on a semester schedule that doesn't necessarily connect with the life schedules of young people."
Skye Njie said the program will run whenever school is not in session, including weekends and vacations.
Though the collective is still in the planning stages, Skye Njie said the group wants to be driven by "young, able-bodied people who care and understand what it's like to grow up and how easy it is to be disengaged."
