Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
Cornell Cooperative Extension Association of Essex County (CCE Essex) will develop and implement a mentoring program for rural and at-risk youth in collaboration with the Elizabethtown Social Center and the Substance Abuse Prevention Team of Essex County. The project team will recruit and train mentors, prioritizing mentorship by young adults who grew up in Essex County to work with 60-75 youth entering grades 6-12 in a local school district. Mentees and their mentors will choose from three 4-H curricula (STEM, Civic Engagement, Theater Arts) to share experiences that provide components of resiliency identified by students at the 2023 Youth Summit. Community partners from the public, private, and non-profit sectors will support the mentorship program by assisting with mentor and mentee recruitment, hosting pairs and small groups, providing expertise in multiple social and emotional wellness disciplines, and enabling youth to explore the skills and styles to work in their respective workplaces. Transportation and healthy food will be provided throughout the 3-year program and all mentee/mentor pairs may participate in a 4-H culminating experience each year if they choose (i.e. Career Ex, Environmental Field Days, Capital Days, Youth Summit, County Fair exhibit, or public presentation). The project will create connections between adults and rural youth that will increase protective factors against negative social messages, family trauma and lack of financial resources and reduce risk factors associated with negative outcomes.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
Goal 1: Increase the positive impact mentors have on rural Essex County youth, using the 4-H Thrive Model.Objectives:50% enrollment over 3-year project (to a total of 100)Identify and obtain commitment from 10 community organization partnersIdentify and recruit 20 relatable, available and well-trained staff and/or volunteer mentorsGoal 2: Establish a mentoring culture that will reach all students in Essex County.Objectives:Reduce self-reported social health concerns (housing, education, food) for all menteesInvolve 60 youthin creative arts, life skills,and career development through 4-H activitiesIncrease self-reported positive decision-making in 60 youthEngage wide network of community partners who will open programs and make staff available to mentees and/or mentors on an ongoing basis
Project Methods
We've selected the Brilliant Pathways Mentoring Playbook to help program leaders, partners, and participants co-design a mentoring program. This simple playbook was selected based on the research conducted by Brilliant Pathways, an organization that leads academic mentoring programs in Essex County as part of a national program.We elected to use a locally co-created mentoring planning tool because we want to give as much opportunity for youth to plan with us as we can and we believe we already have relevant expertise based on what we have learned from youth constituents in our programs. CCE staff will bring to the planning process familiarity with 4-H programs and resources developed by Cornell University's Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research. The ACT for Youth resources, (PYD 101, facilitation skills, engagement toolkit) include youth-adult partnership resources and supports to prepare adults for mentoring. In addition, staff members from many community partners have attended trauma-informed care and resiliency-building training that will also inform how we talk to and interact with both mentors and mentees.Initially, 3 staff mentors (1 from CCE, 1 from the Social Center, and 1 from the Prevention Team) will recruit up to 10 volunteer community mentors and willing youth. Together with a facilitator, they will create a mentoring plan customized for our community, using the guiding documents provided by the Brilliant Pathways' Mentoring Playbook Steps 1-6.The initial phase of the program will operate during the approximately 20 hours/week when the Social Center holds free Teen Rec hours. Staff and volunteer mentors will initially build interest in the program by getting to know the youth who come to the Social Center and offering short-term activities using the 4-H Sparks series with student-selected topics.As the program buildsstudents will be able to choose 1-hour weekly groups led by a mentor, based on the three 4-H curricula selected: STEM, Civic Engagement and Theater Arts. These groups will continue throughout the school year and extend through summer if requested.Individual youth may request 1:1 mentoring or group mentors may identify individual youth who would benefit from an ongoing 1:1 relationship. 1:1 sessions can be held privately at the Social Center or at semi-private locations (schools, libraries, town offices) with the consent of parents. Crisis events or high-stress circumstances beyond the scope of mentors will be referred to caregivers in the BRIEF System of Care.All mentor/mentee pairs will be encouraged to participate in planning annual culminating experiences both as a group and as cohorts following the three curricula (STEM, Civic Engagement, and Theater Arts).All mentees will be welcome to remain part of a small-group cohort engaging in 4-H curriculum until they are no longer eligible to participate in Social Center or 4-H programming.Our mentoring activities will be based on the 4-H Thrive Model. The program will utilize three core 4-H curricula - STEM, Civic Engagement, and Theater Arts. Mentees will have the opportunity to choose the track that most interests them while working within a cohort of mentees who have chosen the same track.