Harmony/VISTA Service Learning Demonstration Project

Youth Leadership Development

Freshman Mentoring | Youth Summit | Students as Advocates

|DiversARTic Summer Arts Program | Other Projects | Home

 

Freshmen Mentoring Programs

Trailblazers

The Harmony VISTA Project worked with students to create Trailblazers in response to the knowledge that over 60% of students were dropping out of high school and most dropped out after freshman year. Trailblazers are sophomores, juniors, and seniors who help freshman make successful transitions to high school. Trailblazers learn how to facilitate teambuilding activities at 3-day overnight camp during the summer. Upon their return to school, they plan and lead a freshman orientation. Trailblazers have also led teambuilding and leadership workshops with freshmen throughout the school year.

At Emmerich Manual High School, Trailblazers created "Steppin' Up", a year-long freshman mentoring program. Trailblazers and freshmen participate in social activities every other week such as bowling, rock climbing, and college visits. On alternating weeks, Trailblazers lead workshops on topics such as academic success, working styles, and leadership skill building.

Other schools participating in Trailblazers include Broad Ripple High School, Arsenal Technical High School, and Northwest High School.

Footsteps

At Arlington High School, students have developed a freshman mentoring program that is entirely student-led. Upperclassmen design activities, coordinate mentors, recruit freshmen, and evaluate the program. The program focuses on academic success, feeling connected to the school, and building relationships. A Harmony VISTA member serves as their adult sponsor.

 

Youth Summit

Since 2002, the Harmony VISTA Project has hosted annual Youth Summits where students from multiple schools come together to engage in leadership workshops, community building, and social activities. Themes for past Youth Summits include "School and Community Engagement" and "Our Generation, Our School, Our Voice". Participation in the Youth Summit has grown from 30 participating students from six schools in 2002 to over 60 students from 10 Indiana high schools in 2004.

Students who attended the Youth Summits said:

"I liked the leaders of this group and we were dealing with most important issues in my school."

"I was thrilled with meeting new people. I've never been to anything like this before."

"I believe the Youth Summit is a great opportunity for young adults to speak their minds."

 

Students As Advocates

Students as Advocates is a new group of students who want to create engaging learning environments at their school. It is a group of about 10 students from six schools. In December 2004, they were challenged to make a positive impact in the lives of 100 people at their school. Some students organized workshops at their schools to help improve student-teacher relationships, others reached out to students they'd never talked to before, and others designed an after school diversity club. We look forward to seeing where this group will head in the future.

DiversARTic Summer Arts Program

DiversARTic is a multidisciplinary summer arts program in which IPS high school students learn the basics of creative writing, theatre production, and visual art in order to write, direct, and act in an original performance based upon their lives and experiences.

This program brings together community artists, professional actors and writers, college students, and musicians. By incorporating the values of mutual respect, openness, personal expression, and relevance to students' lives DiversARTic is a learning environment that successfully engages teens in challenging work and creates strong relationships between adults and young people.

What students say about DiversARTic:

"[I learned] that I can do things that I told myself I couldn't do."

"I learned how to be more open to others."

"What I like most about this program is that no matter what you do, [the adults] respect you for who you are. They listen to your opinions."

 

Links to other work by the Harmony VISTA Project

To learn more about the Harmony VISTA Project's work, click the links below:

Student-Led Research

Student Involvement in School Reform

Service Learning

Parent and Community Engagement