| Creating Supportive Networks for Youth |
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"Don't
ask me
what I want to be, until I've had a chance to explore the possibilities." |
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Click on "Guideposts for Success" for research-based activities that improve outcomes for youth
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Click
here for an on-line calendar
of activities
for youth, transition-related
trainings, and collaborative meetings. Click here for Summer 2006 Opportunties for Youth: This is a compilation of camps, programs, and volunteering for youth in Kent County offered by area colleges and community organizations. Click here for Summer Camps for Youth with Disabilities: Camps in Michigan with programs for youth with disabilities. Click here for Summer Pre-College Programs for Students with Disabilities--2006 Click here for info on Youth Entrepreneurship (http://youthbiz.ronirvine.net/) Click Here for MiConnections--Resources for Local Sites: This is available in CD-ROM also and is a library full of national, state, and local resources, research-based effective practices, resource manuals, and info on careers, entrepreneurship, and community. On the web, this info will be kept up to date, based on the needs of youth and coordinators of the MiConnections Clubs. Click Here for the J.A.M. Student Transition Conference (info and forms)
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MiConnections
is a statewide initiative to improve outcomes for all youth with a
focus on youth with disabilities through research-based practice and
broad-based community collaboration. It is funded by the US Department
of Labor with matching funding from the Michigan Department of Education,
Michigan Rehabilitation Services, and the Michigan Commission for
the Blind. Kent County is the first MiConnections site and has designed
a process to implement this program and impact outcomes on a county-wide
basis. The framework for the project is the "Guideposts
for Success", a research-based set of activities that have
proven to improve outcomes for youth. But how do we increase the practice
of these activities throughout all of the schools in Kent County???
Through youth leadership, we are harnessing the energy of youth to
create "clubs" in schools throughout the county. These "clubs" are
youth initiated and youth directed. Based on the interests and preferences
of youth, they are planning activities that explore the possibilities
for their future. Activities tend to fit into three main categories:
career exploration, youth entrepreneurship, and service projects.
As a network of "clubs", we are forming a learning community that
will generate support for youth across the county.
Ron Irvine is the Kent County Coordinator and has been involved from the beginning of bringing this project to Michigan and bringing it to Kent County as the pilot site. For more information, see the statewide website. MiConnections is part of the national High School / High Tech network and draws its research, practice, and funding from the source of this program; the US Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy, with technical assistance being provided by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth. Michigan's High School / High Tech Initiative (MiConnections) The National High School /High Tech Website
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"It is difficult to say what is impossible . . . for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow" ~Robert Goddard |
