Cornell University Sustainable Community Project: Citizen U

<p>NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:<br/> The five-year plan for Citizen U includes a regional/multi-county approach and is aligned with State 4-H strategic plans. Citizen U's five-year plan is ecologically grounded, interdisciplinary and synergistic with NIFA's priority areas: food security, childhood obesity, climate change, sustainable energy and food safety. Binghamton and Rochester were selected as the community sites because they not only demonstrated compelling need, but also the capacity to successfully sustain the program and make lasting contributions to Broome and Monroe counties, while helping institutionalize CYFAR within the State 4-H Program.
APPROACH: Teens will participate weekly after school seminars, one to two times per week for at least two hours each, and learn to implement community improvement projects aligned with NIFA's priority areas. Teen will spend three to four hours per week conducting community improvement projects and/or participating in civic governance-related activities. Once teens complete Public Adventures, they will choose their Citizen U major and enroll in courses on food security, climate change, sustainable energy and the prevention of childhood obesity, aligned with their interests and community projects. During summers, Citizen U teens will be employed for 20-30 hour per week for six to eight weeks at minimum wage as they conduct community improvement projects. This two-year high context exposure will allow teens to explore potential career paths and academic pursuits. In
years 3 and 4 of the project, this process will be repeated. Teens, partnering agencies and community partners will participate in a mixed method evaluation to gauge the success of program implementation and outcomes. The project will participate in CYFAR's common measures evaluation efforts.
<p>PROGRESS: 2012/07 TO 2013/06<br/>OUTPUTS: CITIZEN U was implemented successfully in Binghamton and Rochester, New York by Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Broome County and CCE Monroe County, respectively. CCE Broome partnered with Binghamton Housing Authority, City of Binghamton and Binghamton University's Center for Civic Engagement. CCE Monroe partnered with the City of Rochester, Southeast and Southwest Quadrant Neighborhood Service Centers. CITIZEN U focused on providing the opportunities and supports young people need in order to meet the challenges of growing up in poverty, graduate successfully from high school and go on to college and careers, equipped to be contributing members of the community. Implementation focused on establishing the foundation for sustaining CITIZEN U through broad-based community involvement in the project, while simultaneously
providing a high quality, high context program experience for participants. Weekly afterschool seminars with visiting professors from local colleges, universities, businesses and community organizations were conducted. Numerous community improvement projects were conducted throughout the reporting period. The CITIZEN U Teen Leaders were employed during the summer of 2012 through Community Development Block Grants received from the City of Binghamton and City of Rochester. Summer employment projects in Binghamton included conducting a series of science, engineering and technology camps for disadvantaged youth living in two public housing complexes, building of a community park and completion of Teen Interactive Theater Education training. Summer employment in Rochester involved the targeted placement of each of the Teen Leaders in part-time jobs aligned with their CITIZEN U majors at
various community agencies and businesses. CITIZEN U received a grant from Youth Services American and Global Youth Service Day 2013 to conduct projects in Broome and Monroe counties focused on healthy lifestyles and civic engagement, as well as a grant from National 4-H Council and United Healthcare to conduct nutrition education programming through Cornell University's Eat4-Health program and curricula. Civic engagement with local government leaders, the mayors in Binghamton and Rochester, and participation in 4-H Capital Days 2013 highlighted the Teen Leaders' commitment to becoming engaged, active community change agents. In Broome County, CITIZEN U has trained 24 teens in 4-H Public Adventures, established 20 community collaborations and completed 24 community projects. In Monroe County, CITIZEN U has trained 24 teens in 4-H Public Adventures, established 19 community collaborations
and completed 23 community projects. PARTICIPANTS: June P. Mead, State Project Director & Evaluator, Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Broome County Jamila Simon, Technology Coordinator, State 4-H Office, Cornell University Vicki Giarratano, Community Project Director, CCE Broome County Kelly Mabee, Community Project Coordinator, CCE Broome County Amie Matichak, Community Project Director, CCE Monroe County Keith James Alexander, Community Project Coordinator, CCE Monroe County TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
<p>PROGRESS: 2011/07/01 TO 2012/06/30<br/>OUTPUTS: The CITIZEN U Project established programming at two selected community sites, Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), Broome County and CCE, Monroe and Wayne Counties. The projects focus on the Teen National Program Area and use CCE's Signature Program, Youth Community Action (YCA), as the program model. CITIZEN U stands for CITIZEN YOU and CITIZEN University. It is a metaphor for creating a university environment in which young people are empowered to become engaged citizens and active change agents in their communities. During the reporting period CITIZEN U focused on recruitment of the youth, establishment of the groups, training staff, and providing the opportunities and supports young people need in order to meet the challenges of growing up in poverty. Program implementation focused on establishing the groundwork for
a successful community-based project. Efforts were concentrated on building a solid foundation for participation among the most vulnerable and ensure a strong community commitment to the project. Because of the reduced first year SCP funding level, full-scale implementation was intentionally postponed until the foundation of the project was successfully established (i.e., weekly meetings with and trainings began in October 2011). This groundwork included developing and executing the memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with community partners and the CITIZEN U teen contract with all participating youth. All teens interested in joining CITIZEN U and all adult staff were asked to co-sign the CITIZEN U Contract. The contract clearly outlines the expectations for participation in the project. It establishes rules for behavior, conduct, and participation and provides clear and consistent rules,
expectations and consequences. The contract establishes standards of respect, trust, respect for ethnic and cultural differences, and provides clear guidelines on evaluation participation responsibilities. Emphasis was placed on establishing collaborative partnerships with the partnering agencies' staff and enhancing their ability, through professional development opportunities, to develop healthy, caring relationships with the target audience, a cornerstone of successful YCA programs. MOUs were signed with each of the partnering agencies. CCE Broome is partnered with Binghamton Housing Authority, City of Binghamton. CCE Monroe/Wayne is partnered with the Southeast and Southwest Quadrant Neighborhood Service Centers, City of Rochester. MOUs clearly define expectations, time commitments, and programming responsibilities for partner involvement in CITIZEN U. PARTICIPANTS: We conducted the
Youth Community Action (YCA) training for the entire CITIZEN U project team. Staff learned how to integrate technology into CITIZEN U throughout the Public Adventures curriculum. For example, both community sites have begun using videography to document their projects. A web-based reporting template was adapted for use with CITIZEN U and the project team uses this template monthly to report progress with project implementation. The CITIZEN U teams are being encouraged to use CYFERnet resources to inform their Public Adventures community improvement projects. The CITIZEN U Teen Leaders received training to use GPS/GIS and other technological tools for community asset mapping (e.g., digital cameras, videography, and photography). In addition, CITIZEN U made professional development opportunities offered through CYFERnet (e.g., webinars and web conferences) available to all staff, partners
and collaborators. Technology plays an integral role to CITIZEN U. CITIZEN U is using community mapping, Photovoice, GIS/GPS, videography, website development, blogging, electronic reporting. Staff also learned how to collaborate with local TV and radio stations to promote their community improvement projects and develop summer job skill training and employment experiences for the teen participants in CITIZEN U. The entire CITIZEN U project team also received Advancing Youth Development (AYD) training to improve their skills as effective youth workers and community collaborators. TARGET AUDIENCES: Teens participated weekly after school seminars, one to two times per week for at least two hours each, and learned to implement community improvement projects aligned with NIFA's priority areas. As seminars and trainings are completed, teens spend three to four hours per week conducting
community improvement projects and/or participating in civic governance-related activities. Teens who participate in the program will increase leadership skills, gain knowledge of civic engagement, develop positive attitudes about their ability to create community improvements, and increase workforce/job readiness skills. During the summer, those teens who successfully complete the afterschool program will be hired for summer jobs. These teens will gain job skills as they carry out carefully planned projects addressing NIFA priority areas. CITIZEN U's university approach is expected to enhance career and education aspirations. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.