Community Education Programs

Beranda commented on: Group 1 and Group 3 

Angie  commented on: Groups 3 and 5.

Beranda wrote the introduction, the section on the YMCA, and the section on the Austin Public Libraries.

Angie wrote the section on the Jeremiah Program, the discussion section, and the table.

Community Education Programs:

Austin, Texas

Beranda Cantrell & Angela Vanderluit

EDAC 648

Introduction

            After reading School-community partnerships and community-based education: A case study of a novice program, it was clear that in order for a program to be successful it needs to be very well structured. This means having a clear curriculum, communication between the program and the community, and a common vision among the students attending the program. For this assignment Angela and I have chosen the community of Austin, Texas because we believe the programs there provide all of these things. Although Austin has a large population, 842,592 in 2012 ("Us census bureau," 2014), they are known to have a lower cost of living, plenty of jobs, and affordable homes (National geographic). This city offers multiple programs for their community including the programs offered by the Austin Public Library, programs offered by the local YMCA, and the Jeremiah Program.

Community Education Programs, Projects and Initiatives

            The first place we looked at in Austin was the YMCA. They provide all ages of the community with numerous programs that contribute to their spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. Most of the programs offered by the YMCA are geared towards physical fitness for all ages, but they do offer some other alternatives. For example, one program they provide is the Early Learning Readiness program. It is for ages 2-4 and helps “develop the physical, verbal, and social skills in which they’ll need to be school-ready” (YMCA of Austin). This program provides a curriculum and is geared towards families that do not have access to any other early learning programs. The main purpose of the programs offered by the YMCA is to keep the community active and involved with one another.

            One of the newer projects that the YMCA of Austin is working on is the Childhood Obesity Intervention Program. They offer the program for free in order to get parents and their children interested. The program gives children the information they need in order to live an active and healthy lifestyle. It also helps the children rebuild their self-esteem and confidence. The purpose of this program is to help the youth of Austin stay active and lead a happy, healthy lifestyle. They YMCA is always coming up with new and creative programs as well. One program is the Get Involved! Through this initiative, members of the community are urged to “campaign”, “donate”, and “share”. The campaign side of the initiative involves helping the YMCA raise money to continue offering its programs. The donation side is obvious, with the YMCA requesting donations from its members. The last, sharing, is where a member can share their story and post it to the YMCA of Austin’s Facebook page so that other people can see it. Overall, the YMCA of Austin offers many great community programs to its citizens and is a great place for the community to come together.

            The second place that we looked at is the Austin Public Libraries. The two programs that seem the most beneficial here were the Tax Help program and the VICTORY program. The Tax Help program is offered from February to April 15 and provides tax counseling for the elderly. The library also offers free tax forms for other members of the community to do their taxes themselves. The VICTORY program offers free tutoring for grades 1-12 in the city of Austin. The students are matched on a 1:1 basis so that they can receive the help and attention they need. They have regularly scheduled sessions and meet for at least one hour each week. The program is flexible with the times offered so that all students of the community can take advantage of the program.

            One of the projects that the Austin Public Libraries is working on is expanding the amount of libraries that the city has. They are currently in the middle of building a new library in a central location to all of Austin. The new library is set to open in 2016. The initiatives of the library system in Austin is that they want “…our libraries to be convenient, welcoming, civic spaces in facilities that are a source of civic pride. They should offer excellent resources, including on-line technology, a wide range of books, materials, programs, and services” (Austin public library). The library system knows that they are behind in keeping up with the growing population of Austin, but are doing what they can to change that.

            The final program that we decided to examine as an example was the Jeremiah Program.  The final paragraphs in this section will discuss the community education programs, projects, and initiatives of the Jeremiah Program.  This program strives to stop the cycle of poverty.  The Jeremiah Program focuses on single mothers and their children.  The Jeremiah Program is in a few cities including Minneapolis/St. Paul, Fargo-Moorehead, and Austin, Texas.  The progam usually offers affordable, safe housing for single mothers and their children.  In addition to the housing offered, there are educational programs (Jeremiah Program).  Therefore, the Jeremiah Program really comes full circle in terms of meeting the needs of single mothers and their children immediately and in the future.  The discussion of the Jeremiah Program here in this paper will include both a general discussion of the program and a particular discussion of what is going on in Austin. 

The Jeremiah Program’s educational programs are interesting and effective.  They are broken down based on age group.  Since the Jeremiah Program focuses on single mothers and their young children, the educational programs are split between early childhood education and education for women.  The programs designed for the single mothers are designed for a different purpose than the early childhood education programs, yet are complimentary.  The single mother programs focus on personal empowerment and career development.  The adult women, as participants in this program gain the skills, knowledge and esteem boosting that they need to become empowered and independent.  Topics include “responsibility, self-worth, sociability, self-management, integrity, honesty” in addition to the life skills topics of “career development, economic independence, physical and emotional health, healthy relationships, and parenting and child development” (Jeremiah Program).  The programs for the children of single mothers focus on preparing them for school.  These offer age appropriate and culturally sensitive school readiness programs that the mothers are also involved in.  The early childhood education programs are nestled in the support of the Jeremiah Program in two major ways.  First, the education is delivered in the same location as the living facilities provided by the program.  Secondly, the single mothers are involved in the early childhood education programs and taught how to be their children’s first teacher and support the learning they will receive at school (Jeremiah Program).

The biggest project the Austin Jeremiah Program is working on is affordable housing.  From the organization’s website, it appears that the full incarnation of the Jeremiah Program has not been realized as of the current date.  Ideally, a major component of the Jeremiah Program would be safe and affordable housing for single mothers and their children.  In Austin, they are planning to start construction on a new housing facility in late 2014 and asking for donations to help with the effort (Jeremiah Program).  It seems that the program’s education efforts would be better supported when connected to a housing facility.  Single mothers and their children can truly get the most out of the educational programs when their need for safe housing is more easily met. 

The major initiatives of the Jeremiah Program are the educational programs discussed above.  The major goal of the program is to provide “participants with meaningful educational initiatives and partnerships that are truly transformative” (Jeremiah Program).

Discussion

            This section will discuss all three organizations and their programs, projects, and initiatives.  The discussion seeks to summarize the main idea behind the programs, projects, and initiatives of each organization.  The point of the discussion is to find out what lessons can be learned by practitioners and applied in community education programs. 

            The YMCA offers education programs for the different parts of a person’s life.  The main focus of these programs is on health and fitness.  This is presented in conjunction with early childhood education programs for school readiness.  They also include programs that educate people on ways to positively impact the community.  For other community education programs, the YMCA is exemplary of education that seeks to benefit the whole person in addition to the community. 

            The Austin Public Libraries offer two major programs in addition to initiating the expansion of access to libraries around the city.  For elderly adults, the libraries offer free tax advice during tax season.  This is a valuable community service that fills a need for a lot of people and helps them improve their lives.  The tutoring program offers help with academic subjects for young students in grades 1-12.  The Austin Public Libraries exemplify programming and initiatives designed to meet outstanding needs in the community in addition to improving the chances for success and quality of life.  In this way, libraries serve as information sources as well as being a valued community resource.

            The Jeremiah Program, like the YMCA, strives to meet the whole person needs of the participants.  This is done by providing targeted, specialized, and cooperative education programs.  The program prepares children for school, single mothers for jobs, independence, and healthy relationships, and really empowers participants.  The empowerment hinges on offering support as well as practical knowledge and confidence-boosting.  This is important for practitioners because it shows the benefit of considering and supporting the entire scope of a person’s life in an educational program. 

Table 1
Summary of the Community Education Programs/projects/initiatives
	Providers	Programs	Projects	Initiatives	Suggestions for practitioners
Case 1	YMCA	Health and fitness programs and resources, early childhood education.  These programs fit the need for fitness resources in the community and access to affordable early childhood education.	Community service projects that meet the needs of the community, teach the value of helping others, and keep participants active.	Improve the whole lives of participants and the community.	Integrate the different parts of people’s lives into community education (use different types of learning.)
Case 2	Austin Public Libraries	Tax help for elderly adults and tutoring for K-12 students fits the need for these services.	Utilize the libraries for things most people need.	Create more libraries throughout the city to fit the need for access.	Find needs in the community and create services to fill them.
Case 3	Jeremiah Program	Education to empower and improve career prospects for single mothers and prepare their children for school.	Building an affordable housing facility for program participants in Austin.	Cooperative education to improve the lives of single mothers and their children.	Meeting the housing needs of participants supports their learning.

References

Austin public library. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://library.austintexas.gov/

Cole, A. G. (2010). School-community partnerships and community based education: A case study of a novice program. Perspectives on Urban Education, 15-26.

Jeremiah Program (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.jeremiahprogram.org/

National geographic. (n.d.). Your kind of town: Austin, texas. Retrieved from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/relocating/austin-texas.html

Us census bureau. (2014, January 07). Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/48/4805000.html

YMCA of austin. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.austinymca.org/