Connecting Generations
AmeriCorps Youth Ambassador Program in Partnership
with Communities in Schools
Progress Report December 2012
Youth Ambassador Program
A. Sites
For the 2012-13 program year we have a total of 14 service sites, with 10 returning and 4 new schools.
Because of the program’s success, the Capital School District has again expanded the number of
schools the Youth Ambassador Program supports. The Youth Ambassadors now serve 9 schools in the
district, supporting all but one of the school district’s school based mentoring programs. As a result, the
school district has also substantially increased their contribution for the financial match. The Capital
Mentors Program is supported by the Greater Dover Committee, a partnership of 55 of the largest
businesses in Kent County.
Establishing a mentoring program at a site is a time intensive process that requires effective outreach
in the community, setting up systems at the site for matching, monitoring and evaluation.
Now in our third year of the program we have placed AmeriCorps members in these schools:
Capital School District/Kent County
Dover High (2 years)
Central Middle (3 years)
South Dover Elementary (2 years)
Booker T. Washington Elementary (3 years)
Fairview Elementary (2 years)
Towne Point Elementary (2 years)
East Dover Elementary School (2012-13)
William Henry Middle School (2012-13)
Kent County Alternative Program (2012-13)
Warner Middle*/Baltz Elementary* (2010-11)
Wilmington/New Castle County
William Penn High (3 years)
Newark High (2 years)
Stanton Middle (2 years)(2010-11 & 11/12)
Bayard Middle (3 years)
Richardson Park Elementary (2 years)
Kuumba Academy (2012-13)
Pulaski Elementary* (.75 year) (2010-11)
Prestige Academy* (.75 year) (2010-11)
*placements ended prematurely
B. Program Results
1. Mentoring
In our second program year we continued to make significant progress towards reaching our
objectives.
a) 11 of the 11 mentoring sites with an AmeriCorps member met the Elements of Effective Practice
criteria, established by MENTOR, the National Mentoring Partnership. This was an increase of
approximately 33% from the year before. The Standards include:
i.
Recruitment
ii.
Screening
iii.
Training
iv.
v.
vi.
Matching
Monitoring and Support
Closure
b) 81% of the students being mentored improved their academic scores.
c) 63% of the students being mentored improved their attendance.
d) A total of 220 new mentors were recruited, trained, placed and matched reaching
approximately 243 students. (some mentors worked with multiple students).
e) The Youth Ambassadors also worked with 184 mentors returning from previous years. In total,
the Youth Ambassadors supported 404 mentors.
f) The Mentoring Program at Central Middle School in Dover was recognized with a Superstars in
Education Award presented by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.
Our summary results for student impact by site during the two years include:
2010-11 Program Results
School
Bayard Middle
Booker T. Washington Elementary
Central Middle
Pulaski Elementary
South Dover Elementary
Stanton Middle
Stubbs Elementary
Grade
Improvements
47%
50%
69%
100%
85%
70%
98%
Attendance
Improvements
53%
83%
72%
69%
55%
25%
92%
2011-12 Program Results
School
Bayard Middle
Booker T. Washington Elementary
Central Middle
Dover High School/ Fairview
Elementary School
Richardson Park Elementary
South Dover Elementary
Stanton Middle
Towne Point Elementary
William Penn High School
Grade
Improvements*
89%
100%
81%
Attendance
Improvements
55%
82%
22%
75%
97%
80%
93%
98%
95%
61%
50%
98%
68%
74%
60%
*Grade improvements based upon DCAS scores
In addition, we produced an annual report on views of parents, teachers, mentors and mentees on
the students being mentored and it is attached as a separate document.
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2. Recruitment
AmeriCorps members continued to work across sites on recruiting events. In the first program year the
Youth Ambassadors participated in 183 recruitment events, recruiting and ensuring 234 new mentors
were ultimately trained, vetted and placed in programs supported by an AmeriCorps member.
In 2011-12 Youth Ambassadors attended 151 recruitment events and successfully recruited and
placed 220 new mentors. Our Youth Ambassadors at Richardson Park and Fairview Elementary
Schools spearheaded Connecting Generations cross-age mentoring initiatives and recruited high
school students as mentors. Richardson Park had just over 150 high school students mentoring from
Delaware Military Academy and Conrad School for the Sciences, 117 of those students were
graduating seniors. The students mentoring at Richardson Park Elementary School from DMA and CSS
won Governor Youth Service Awards.
Summary data for the number of mentors/mentees and recruitment events include:
# of returning Mentors
# of New mentors
# of Returning Mentees
# of New Mentees
# of Mentor recruitment Events
Attended
# Mentor Hours
2010-11
60
234
109
296
2011-12
184
220
180
220
183
1,422
151
1,620
3. Community Service
It is fundamental to every AmeriCorps program to promote an ethic of service. Coretta Scott King, wife
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and activist said “the greatest gift that all people can give [Dr. King] is
service to your fellow man”. Recruiting volunteer mentors and having school age children benefit
directly from those volunteers provides a very rich environment for Civic Responsibility. The recruiting
activities of the Youth Ambassadors reinforce the ethic of community service in the community at
large. Each YA has a requirement to involve students in a minimum of two Community Service
Activities called service projects. Engaging younger students in Community Service activities will have
them experience the positives of giving back to the community. Promoting community service with
high school students through mentoring will provide an ongoing emphasis on service. In addition to
these school-wide service projects the Youth Ambassadors participate in team projects.
Program Year
# of AC
Members
# of School Wide Service
Projects
# of Team Service
Projects
2010-11
10
5
6
2011-12
10
47
11
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Community Based Examples:
2011-12 Youth Ambassadors served monthly as a team, some examples are:
1) Delaware State Parks
a) Members cleared debris from paths and hiking trails, assisted the 2 person volunteer Nature
Center’s gardeners with maintenance, and cleared and mulched the cultivated areas of
Killens Pond State Park.
2) Firefly Festival
a) The Youth Ambassador team supported Delaware Habitat for Humanity by serving at food
booths at Delaware’s First Annual Firefly Festival.
3) Safe Summer Day
a) Members served at an annual event which is part of a stop the violence campaign in
Wilmington. Members packaged toiletry kits for those in transitional housing as well as assisted
in setting up and breaking down the event.
Site Based Examples:
2011-2012 Program Year
1) William Penn High School
a) 9-on-9 Street Clean up- in response to student feedback the Youth Ambassador helped
students coordinate a street clean up along Route 9 in New Castle. The Youth Ambassador
gathered resources and community partners to host this event. Mentors, mentees, school staff,
and community businesses all participated in the event.
2) Stanton Middle School
a) Pinwheels for Peace- the Youth Ambassador challenged her students to take a stand against
school violence. Each day during the month long event a school violence fact was read
during the school announcements sparking student lead discussion. The month culminated
with each student creating a pinwheel which was displayed in front of the school and students
writing a letter of reflection to 5th grade students at their former elementary schools.
3) Towne Point Elementary School
a) Kickball 4 Kicks- Students and school staff donated shoes in order to participate in what
became a school district wide kickball tournament. The Shoe drive included 2 other Youth
Ambassador schools as well as non YA schools.
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A. Finances
During the first fiscal year that we were operating an AmeriCorps program (FY11) our total income was
$642,402. The first grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service was for $125,000
and represented approximately 19% of our funding. During our 2nd Program Year (FY12) our total
income increased to $832,125. The $125,000 CNCS Grant represented 15% of our funding.
Sources of income
FY2011
$574,716
FY2012
$729,168
Total Annual Appeal
$20,339
$43,150
Total Program
$22,981
$39,304
Interest Income
$3,054
$2,812
Change in Investment
Market Value
$8,001
-$2,594
Special Events
$6,499
$20,186
Miscellaneous Income
$6,812
0
$642,402
$832,126
Total Contracts/Grants
Total Income
Expenses
FY2011
FY2012
Total Personnel
Contracted Services
Program Expenses
Special Events
$ 454,636
$ 69,653
$ 111,950
$ 5,194
$ 522,588
$ 85,066
$ 127,758
$ 13,193
Miscellaneous
In-Kind
TOTAL EXPENSES
$ 1,283
$ 8,100
$ 642,718
$
585
$ 18,954
$ 749,192
The total cost of the Youth Ambassador Program substantially added to our revenues and expenses
for FY11 and FY12. The community has been very supportive of the Youth Ambassador program and
we fully met our requirement for matching funds for 48% of the total program costs.
The total expense for the AmeriCorps program for FY12 was $201,951.
AC - CGI
YR2
AC - CNCS
YR2
Total AC Yr2
Income
Total Annual Appeal
Total Contracts and Grants
$300
$130,000
$0
$84,596
$300
$214,596
In Kind Contributions
Total Income
$16,681
$146,981
$0
$84,596
$16,681
$231,578
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Expense
In Kinds Services Rendered
Total Personnel
Total Contracted Services
Total Program Expense
Total Expense
Net Income
$16,681
$84,130
$588
$10,920
$0
$85,125
$0
$4,506
$16,681
$169,255
$588
$15,427
$112,319
$89,631
$201,951
$34,662
-$5,035
$29,627
The support for the AmeriCorps Program continued to grow in our second year of the program. The
grants included:
1. $60,000 from the Longwood Foundation as part of a 3 year commitment
2. $10,000 from the WSFS Foundation as part of a 2 year commitment
We also received grants from foundations and churches to support the continued development of the
Creative Mentoring Program. While not directly supporting the AmeriCorps program these funds allow
us to provide greater support to the AmeriCorps members and mentors working in our schools. These
grants included:
1. $40,000 from the Welfare Foundation to support the development of a new database
to provide greater ability to track mentors through the application, training and vetting
process and during their placement in schools.
2. $50,000 from the Jessie Ball DuPont Foundation to support the development of webbased mentor training for mentors and coordinators.
3. $5,000 from Christ Church Christina Hundred to support the web-based training.
4. $10,000 from Noramco and $30,000 from Johnson and Johnson to support the Bridge to
Employment program at Newark High School. The program uses Health Careers to help
keep high risk high school students motivated and engaged in school. Mentoring is a
key component of the program.
Support from Host Sites included:
Stanton Middle School
William Penn High School
Bayard Middle School
Richardson Park Elementary
Newark High School
South Dover Elementary
Central Middle
Booker T. Washington Elem.
Dover HS/Fairview Elementary
Towne Pointe Elementary
TOTAL
$7,500
$7,500
$5,000
$5,000
$5,000
$5,000
$7,500
$7,500
$5,000
$5,000
$60,000
During the first year of the program schools were supported by grants from the Delaware Mentoring
Council. Those grants are now gone and the contributions above reflect real contributions made by
schools out of district funds. This is an increase from the $39,000 in contributions from Host Schools, all
through the Delaware Mentoring Council.
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B. Policies
Each site has a signed Memorandum of Understanding that completely covers the responsibility of
each organization so we can hold one another accountable for results. The MOU includes those
activities that are prohibited for AmeriCorps members. Each site administrator and site liaison went
through a 30 minute presentation/discussion to ensure understanding of the rules, regulations and
prohibited activities. A sample MOU is also included as an attachment.
C. AmeriCorps Delaware Statistics
During our first program year we enrolled 10 members. 7 members successfully completed their terms
of service and were eligible to receive the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award. For the 2011-2012
program year we enrolled 10 members and all 10 members successfully completed their terms of
service and were eligible for the education award. According to the State Office of Volunteerism,
which administers and oversees the AmeriCorps programs in Delaware, the Youth Ambassador
Program enrollment and retention rate is 100% for the 2011-2012 year, the best of the 4 Delaware
AmeriCorps programs.
See attached Delaware State Office of Volunteerism Enrollment and Retention Report
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