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City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: Mayor announces summer programs for Rainier Beach teens
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
6/27/2007 11:45:00 AM |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Haddis Tadesse, (206) 684-8119
Alex Fryer (206) 684-8358
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Mayor announces summer programs for Rainier Beach teens
Summer strategy aims to reduce violence and crime
SEATTLE - Today Mayor Greg Nickels announced his summer strategy to offer Rainier Beach teens employment, education and recreation opportunities. These summer programs will provide area teens with tools to make positive life choices.
Under the strategy, the city of Seattle is also working with community agencies to expand these opportunities beyond what the city itself can provide. The city will spend more than $250,000 this summer on the programs.
Rainier Beach is one of Seattle’s most culturally diverse communities, with families, school-aged children, small businesses, mixed-income housing, and active community groups. "Summers shouldn’t be a waste of time for our kids," Nickels said. "There were some troubling things happening in the Rainier Beach neighborhood this spring, so we joined with the community to create opportunities to engage teens in the neighborhood, help them learn new skills, earn a few bucks and have fun all summer long."
Willie Austin, co-founder of the Austin Foundation, which provides fitness and health programs to youth in the greater Seattle area, knows firsthand the difference a caring community can make in kids’ lives. "Most inner-city kids never get a chance to fully understand a healthy, fit lifestyle," Austin says. "My fitness and safety program at the Rainier Beach Community Center will help local teens make positive and productive choices with their lives." The Seattle Police Foundation provided $16,680 for the program.
"Building community is something everyone can do," says Gregory Davis of the Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition, whose mission is building community capacity to enhance the quality of life in Rainier Beach, as well as addressing critical issues threatening the welfare of Rainier Beach residents. "This summer, thanks to a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant from the city of Seattle, our summer leadership development project will teach 30 at-risk Rainier Beach youth they can make a positive difference in their community. This kind of investment is important to the revitalization of the neighborhood."
Under the city of Seattle’s Rainier Beach Youth Summer Strategy:
- Thirty 14- to 17-year-olds will each earn $900 through paid internships emphasizing on-the-job training. The six-week Seattle Youth Employment Program (SYEP) focuses on youth who have been involved in or are at-risk of involvement in the criminal justice system. SYEP’s goal is to help kids graduate from high school with a plan in place to get a job, attend college, or enroll in a trade or apprenticeship program.
- Thirty 14- to 18-year-olds will each be paid $599 for six weeks of work addressing community needs, such as forest enhancement, trail construction, habitat restoration, organizing community events and mixed media projects. The Student Teen Employment Preparation program provides teens with education, job skills and career development training.
- Teens will have a safe place to hang out from 7 p.m. to midnight on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, beginning June 28. The city will contribute $16,700 for an additional evening of the Late Night Program at the Rainier Beach Community Center. The 10-week program provides a variety of recreational activities, including cooking, gym activities, computer lab programming, art projects, and approved activities requested by the teens. Two free swims will be offered every Thursday; one for families and one for teens only.
Community agencies are doing their part to expand these opportunities as well. This month, the city awarded $70,180 in Neighborhood Matching Funds to five projects to help young people in Rainier Beach. The city also committed an additional $15,000 for youth stipends associated with these projects. The projects focus on education, recreation, community service, jobs and training:
- Central House received $15,000 for the “Rainier Valley Youth” project. The value of the community’s matching funds is $8,400. Through this project, eight to 10 Rainier Valley youth will develop a plan and strategy on how to better prepare valley residents for emergencies.
- The Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition received $10,320 for the "Rainier Beach Health & Leadership Development Program" project. The value of the community’s matching funds is $9,100. With health, fitness and leadership development as a focus, 30 Rainier Beach at-risk 12- to 15-year-olds will receive instruction to develop basketball and event planning skills, culminating in planning a community-building event: the Rainier Beach Back2School Bash.
- South East Effective Development and the Columbia City Revitalization Committee received $14,860 for the "Rainier Commons Trellis" project. The value of the community’s matching funds is $20,750. South East Effective Development is partnering with Seattle Public Schools, the Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition, and King County Superior Court Community Programs to offer a public art workshop for eight to 25 Rainier Beach area youth, resulting in the design and creation of a trellis marking the entrance to the Rainier Beach Community Plaza at the New School at South Shore (on the corner of Rainier Avenue South and South Henderson Street).
- The Seattle Debate Foundation received $15,000 for the "Hip Hop and Debate" project. The value of the community’s matching funds is $9,800. This project will engage underserved/ under-represented youth in empowering, safe and educational summer and fall programming through afternoon hip hop and debate classes. Participants will create dynamic speeches by incorporating alternate forms of cultural expression and political thought found in positive hip hop. Debate coaches and local artists will work with the participants to create and record speeches for use in public debates and tournaments.
- Seattle MESA received $15,000 for the "MESA Men" project. The value of the community’s matching funds is $46,620. The MESA Men project will help young men of the Rainier Beach neighborhood find positive alternatives to youth violence through academic success, mentoring, and leadership. Focusing particularly on the learning and social needs of African-American ninth graders, the project will include a three-week summer math program, after-school tutoring and hands-on activities, mentoring and leadership training, and outreach to elementary students.
Other community partners include the King County Superior Court, the Center for Career Alternatives and Metrocenter YMCA, which will support the SYEP efforts. Businesses and groups who want to help expand the opportunities for Rainier Valley youth this summer should contact the city of Seattle’s Haddis Tadesse at (206) 684-8119. Youth interested in any of these community programs should contact Tadesse as well.
In addition to the planned employment, education and recreation programs, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) will conduct targeted bike and emphasis patrols in the Rainier Beach community to help prevent criminal activity and intervene as needed. SPD will have a highly visible police presence in neighborhood business districts and increased enforcement in neighborhood "hot spots."
SPD will work with staff at Franklin High School and Aki Kurose Middle School to assist security during the summer school session. Officers will work with staff at Aki Kurose and Franklin to track truant summer school students, and follow up with parents/guardians to stress the importance of attending school.
When the school year starts in September, SPD will expand its efforts by assigning two officers to work specifically with Aki Kurose Middle School and Rainier Beach High School. Officers will make initial contact with parents/guardians of truant students with a goal of getting the students actively involved in programs and services that address the reasons for the truancy.
The 2007 Rainier Beach Summer Strategy focuses on youth in the geographic area bounded by South Othello Street on the north; Seattle city limits on the south; Martin Luther King Jr. Way on the west; and Seward Park Avenue/Lake Washington Boulevard on the east.
Also this summer, more than 350 high school students - including some from Rainier Beach High School - will participate in "Summer College," a program that aims to help struggling students meet high school graduation and proficiency requirements while exposing them to the opportunities of a college education.
The five-week Summer College program will help who did not pass the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) this spring and is made possible by an innovative partnership among the Seattle Public Schools, Seattle Community Colleges and the city of Seattle. It will be located at two community college campuses - North Seattle Community College and South Seattle Community College - to quickly boost student achievement and give students an experience of college life.
Nickels proposed investing $107,000 in Summer College in the city’s 2007 Supplemental Budget, using Families & Education Levy funding to pay for enrichment courses, classroom maintenance, lunches and classrooms supplies. The Levy is also investing $150,000 in tutoring services. The Washington State Legislature added $19,374,924 for remedial assistance in the 2007 State budget with $599,099 slated for Seattle Public Schools, which significantly supports the District’s overall remedial efforts.
Get the mayor’s inside view on initiatives to promote transportation, public safety, economic opportunity and healthy communities by signing up for The Nickels Newsletter at www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsletter_signup.htm.
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Office of the Mayor
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