CITYCOLOGY FY 2010-2011 (July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011)

2010-2011 Program Outcome Report

“Citycology is a wonderful place for young kids. It shows them more responsibility. At Solar Youth, my child learned how to keep the environment clean by starting at home.”

—Kalinda Horton, Parent

Above: Westville Manor youth plant

flowers for their spring C-SAP.

Right: Youth Educator Kayla teaches the

girls in her McConaughy Terrace

group about soil erosion.

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I. PROGRAM SUMMARY Citycology is Solar Youth’s program for our youngest cohort, youth ages 4-8. Like all Solar Youth

programs, the main goal of Citycology is to nurture youth who are happy, healthy, community-

oriented and environmentally conscious.

Citycology is a core program of Solar Youth’s “Cycle of Stewardship,” a menu of programs that allows

youth to build on their experiences, maintain relationships, progressively gain more leadership skills,

become positive change agents in their environments,

and then teach and serve as role models for younger

children.

Citycology, like all programs, follows Solar Youth’s

unique program model: Kids Explore! Kids Do! Kids

Teach! Following this model, youth investigate the

local ecology of their community (Kids Explore!),

identify environmental issues that affect the health of

people and the natural environment, and seek

solutions through a process of problem-solving and

youth led action (Kids Do!), then teach what they

have learned and accomplished to others through

public education projects (Kids Teach!).

Each Citycology Team is co-led by an adult staff member and three teenage Youth Educators, paid

interns who often have participated in Solar Youth programs as younger kids. Youth Educators are hired

via a competitive process and participate in training for three weeks prior to each season and every

Friday during the season. The program meets twice a week after school during the fall and spring and

every day from 9am to 3pm for five weeks during the summer.

In 2010-2011, Citycology was offered in two neighborhoods (Westville Manor and McConaughy

Terrace) and at our Summer Camp, which is offered free of charge to youth throughout New Haven.

Environmental topics addressed in Citycology in 2010-2011 included Animal Tracking; Conservation;

Erosion; Fitness and Nutrition; Insect Parts; Mother Earth; Pollution; Predator/Prey Relationships and

Adaptation; Recycling; Resource Waste; Tree Conservation and Tree Parts; Under the Sea; Urban

Ecosystems; Water Conservation; Water Pollution; and the Web of Life.

Developmental topics addressed during 2010-2011 included Curriculum Creation, Developmental

Stages, Literacy Building, and Employability.

The expected outcomes for our Citycology are:

x A demonstrated development of, at minimum, nine of the Search Institute's 40 Developmental

Assets (the building blocks of positive youth development, the possession of which has shown to

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have significant effect on youth's ability to resist negative influences and achieve success in adult

life). The Developmental Assets we will measure are within the categories of 'constructive use of

time,' 'empowerment,' 'commitment to learning,' 'positive values,' and 'social competencies.'

x A demonstrated increase in environmental knowledge and commitment to environmental

stewardship. Citycology curriculum aligns with Connecticut State standards for science learning and

complements what youth are learning in the classroom at school.

In addition, outcomes for Youth Educators include:

x A demonstrated development of employability skills, such as timeliness, public speaking,

personal financial management, work ethic and a commitment to excellence; and

x A demonstrated increase in understanding of best principles and practices of youth

development.

Finally, as a result of implementation of Community Service Action Projects (C-SAPs) and Public Education Projections (PEPs), Citycology contributes to an ecologically healthier and more environmentally conscious City of New Haven and its environs.

Citycology by the Numbers: 2010 -2011

x Offered more than 300 hours of Citycology; x Hired and trained 16 Citycology interns (7 interns during the summer, 3 interns during the fall and 6 interns during the spring); x Had a total Citycology enrollment of 87 youth (61 unique youth) across four seasons (27 during the summer, 16 during the fall, 10 during the winter and 33 during the spring); x Organized 13 out-of-neighborhood adventure trips for Citycology participants; x Implemented 7 youth-led C-SAPs as part of Citycology (4 in summer, 1 in fall, 2 in spring) and 10 Public Education Projects (PEPs, 5 in summer, 2 in fall, and 3 in spring); x Offered Citycology in 2 neighborhoods, Westville Manor and McConaughy Terrace.

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II. SEASONS’ REVIEW

Summer 2010

Solar Youth’s Summer session of Citycology is offered as part of our Summer Camp, which is open free of charge to youth throughout New Haven. In 2010, 27 youth enrolled in Citycology during our Summer Camp, led by 7 interns. Kids Explore! Theme Activity Description

Week 1 – Fitness and

Nutrition The Campers learned the basics on how to stay healthy and fit by using interactive games and lessons. Campers also explored the human body to get to know what exactly their bones do. With the help of our friends at 4-H (for weeks 2, 3, and 4) we also got to understand the five categories of food in the food pyramid. We explored the community around the camp, learning how we can stay fit in our own backyards!

Week 2 - Under the Sea In Week 2, campers learned about Whales, Dolphins, Sharks, Coral Reefs, and a whole lot more! Campers also had the opportunity to learn by seeing and doing when we visited the many different sea creatures at the Maritime Aquarium. They even got to see an IMAX Movie!!

Week 3 - Urban Ecosystem This week featured lessons on our local ecosystem: animals, their habitats, and even what they eat! Youth went to the Yale Peabody Museum to learn about the surrounding area's ancient ecosystem.

Week 4 - Recycling

Campers learned that almost everywhere we go we can find something that has been recycled into something else. This week we explained and taught the campers about the benefits of recycling and why we should jump on board and start recycling everyday things that we use. To understand recycling a little bit more, we visited the Trash Museum in Hartford.

Week 5 - Mother Earth This week, we learned and explored different things that may have a negative effect on our planet. Early in the week we went to Stepping Stones Museum in Norwalk! We ended the week with a carnival filled with games and prizes, we even had a cotton candy machine, to celebrate a great 2010 summer season!

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Kids Do! Theme Community Service Action Project Description

Trash Clean-Up Youth picked up trash that surrounded the school grounds, filling three full bags!

Anti-Litter Campaign Youth designed five posters to make people more aware of the presence of trash on school grounds, and the importance of the prevention of littering!

Gardening Youth picked up trash in, weeded and raked the Clarence Rogers garden plot.

Kids Teach! At the season-end Public Education Forum at the Yale Peabody Museum, claps and shouts echoed as parents and families cheered on campers during their presentations. Youth performed songs and skits created over the course of the summer, and taught the audience about what they learned and accomplished!

Fall 2010

In the Fall, Solar Youth welcomed new program coordinator Amanda Bancroft, who moved to New

Haven from Denver, Colorado, where she worked at a year-round literacy organization. She and three

dedicated interns built on the great foundation set by previous staff, bringing fresh perspective to

lessons and activities. During Fall 2010, Citycology was offered in the Westville Manor public housing

development. Total enrollment for the Fall was 16.

Kids Explore! Out-of-Neighborhood

Explorations

Description

East Rock Park Our kick-off hike with all our youth, hiking to the summit for a grand view of their city.

Stratford Garbage Museum Along with their older peers, Citycology youth learned about recycling, touring the trash processing deck and playing in fun, hands-on exhibits.

Sleeping Giant State Park A few select youth joined the Steward Team and Service Adventure youth for a day of games and an extreme hike.

Maritime Aquarium Those youth with perfect attendance (Solar Stars) were invited to learn about the animals and ecosystems of Long Island Sound at this Norwalk aquarium.

Connecticut Science Center For our end-of-season trip, all youth were invited to learn about global warming, health and nutrition, and the universe at the newly renovated center in Hartford.

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Kids Do! During the season, youth discussed how other young people in their community would be in the

hospital during the holiday season, and would not have a “nice Christmas.” They also were also eager

to clean up trash in their neighborhood, but were somewhat averse to doing a traditional trash pick-up.

The first solution offered was “Going to Wal-Mart and buying a bunch of stuff for the kids and then

bringing it to them in the hospital.” Other youth seemed interested in this idea, but also wanted to sell

cupcakes (inspired by their older Steward Team peers). They soon wanted to do all of the above—to

sell cupcakes and then to use the money to purchase toys for kids. They also decided to do a recycle

drive—rather than going around the neighborhood themselves, they would ask each of their guests to

bring 1 recycle-able item.

The cupcake sale was a bigger success than any of us expected! We sold almost all of the cupcakes and

a parade that kicked off the evening was a ton of fun. Youth enjoyed picking out their costumes and

instruments to get ready to go outside, and none of them complained about the 20-degree cold!

Kids Teach! With help from intern Candyce, youth composed a song about their C-SAP which they performed for

friends and family at the season-end Public Education Forum:

Heeeyyyy, Citycology we’re back, we’re ready What’s happenin’? We’re in the neighborhood Doin’ projects again— We sold cupcakes to give To the Yale children!

Winter 2011

For the first time ever Solar Youth held an abbreviated Citycology Program during the Winter season. Ten youth learned about the concept of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (RRR), which included organizing a recycling drive and a fashion show using only recyclable materials, playing recycled bottle bowling, making magazine necklaces, and composing a RRR theme song. The youth had a blast!

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Spring 2011

Citycology expanded in Spring 2011. As part of our Neighborhood Model replication, Citycology was a

founding program (along with Steward Teams, Solar Youth’s flagship program for 9-13 year olds) in

McConaughy Terrace, a public housing development in the West Hills neighborhood. The season

started in March, with six Citycology interns accompanying staff door-to-door in the neighborhood,

introducing themselves to families who were thrilled to welcome an after-school program (none had

existed before Solar Youth).

In total, Solar Youth offered two Citycology teams: one in each of Westville Manor and McConaughy

Terrace. Total enrollment was 33, and again each team was led by three Youth Educators. In April,

Citycology joined the 2011 Solar Youth Summit, a special 3-day Solar Youth program during spring

break, to explore Long Island Sound, where youth learned about local watersheds and shoreline flora

and fauna.

Kids Explore! Out-of-Neighborhood Explorations

Description

West Rock Ridge State Park All Citycology youth were invited to this kick-off extravaganza, and all of them made it to the top of the ridge!

Hammonasset Beach State

Park We explored Hammonasset and learned about the Long Island Sound through songs and games

Lighthouse Point State Park Explored the beach at Lighthouse Point, and taught each other what we learned during the Youth Summit

Beardsley Zoo Our Solar Stars (those with perfect attendance for the season) explored the zoo in Bridgeport

West Rock Nature Center Campfire with s’mores! The night also included a group trust walk over the creek and through the woods, and lots of fun field games.

Kids Explore! Citycology Team Community Service Action Project (C-SAP) Description

McConaughy Terrace Citycology youth in McConaughy Terrace identified greater neighborhood beautification and stewardship as the number one priority for their project. A few suggested that, perhaps, putting something beautiful and green would encourage people to take care of the place where they live. They put 10 plants in front of the Solar Youth program room, and upon completing their work they were excited at the prospect of being good examples of stewardship in the community.

Westville Manor Neighborhood beautification was also on the minds of youth in Westville Manor, who identified a need for more decorative plants, flowers and “pretty things” in the community. According to one youth, there was “too much grey.” Following a survey of the neighborhood, the group decided to plant flowers in 3 pre-determined spots: Solar Youth’s front

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yard, a butterfly garden on a nerby street, and near the playground. Approximately 12 plants were put into the ground that day, and after planting, youth expressed their pride at the loveliness of their work.

Kids Teach! Citycology Team Public Education Project (PEP) Description

McConaughy Terrace After their planting project, youth designed posters about taking care of your community. They shared their work with family and friends.

Westville Manor Youth in Westville Manor also created posters, about why it is good to take care of where you live.

Youth Edcuator Odessa and her Citycology team Summer percussion workshop with Gammy Moses

during a clean-up C-SAP

IV. OUTCOMES

Solar Youth’s Evaluation Process

Solar Youth measures its programs with a combination of evaluation tools, including Pre/Post surveys,

Portfolios (evidence and examples of youth community service and public education work), Youth

Feedback Forms, Family Feedback Forms, and Community Feedback Forms. The feedback forms are

based on best-practice evaluation tools developed by the Search Institute. Our pre/post survey, which

measures ecological literacy, aligns with Connecticut State standards for science learning. We are in the

process of developing additional evaluation tools that will allow us to track development of individual

youth over time.

Citycology, as our program for our youngest participants, is evaluated based on feedback forms from

parents and select exit interviews with participants.

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Feedback from Participating Youth and Parents

CATEGORY % OF PARENTS WHO AGREED

Youth Development Outcomes Empowerment

Because of Solar Youth, the community values Solar Youth participants

Because of Solar Youth, participant is given useful roles in the community

95%

Commitment to Learning Because of Solar Youth, participant is actively engaged in learning.

Because of Solar Youth, participant is motivated to do well in school

100%

Positive Values Because of Solar Youth, participant’s self-esteem improved

Because of Solar Youth, participant appears more confident

98%

Social Competencies Because of Solar Youth, participant’s communication skills have improved

Because of Solar Youth, participant has learned to work well with others

92%

Environmental Outcomes

Because of Solar Youth, participant’s knowledge about the environment improved

Because of Solar Youth, participant is more responsible about the effect he/she has on the environment

100%

Quality Assurance

I would recommend Solar Youth to my friends/other parents

I would like to see my child attend Solar Youth next season 99%

Quotes and Testimonials

FEEDBACK FROM PARENTS:

“(My daughter) tells me she wants to go to college so she can help other kids like her.”

“(My daughter) is more outgoing and respectful.”

“(My son) could get along with other children more better instead of fighting.”

“(My daughter) loves the program.”

“Solar Youth is a great program for my daughter and another child.”

“(My daughter) will want to work with Solar Youth in the future to help other kids like her. P.S. Love what they do for the kids to stay out of trouble thank you.”

“(My daughter) tells me we have to learn to keep the environment clean so that we can have a clean environment and live healthy.”

“(My son) doesn't like to litter. He always wants to water the plants.”

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IV. ENROLLMENT/DEMOGRAPHIC DATA