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The Creative Action Project:
CCS
’ newest venture is an out of school time program that serve a diverse
group of 9th and 10th grade girls from the Cambridge Public
Schools. Focusing on
leadership development and personal growth,
CAP
offers cultural exploration, guidance from women leaders and role models,
opportunities for creative expression, positive peer interaction, academic
support, and active community involvement.
The
program’s overarching vision is that participants will understand
and celebrate the contributions and achievements of women and girls
throughout the world and throughout history; gain the confidence and
skills that will enable them to become strong leaders in their
communities; and develop into lifelong learners and involved citizens who
play an active role in bringing about positive social change.
Visit the Creative
Action Project Page to learn more.
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City Links:
This unique program
provides new immigrant youth with extensive exposure to public sector
education and careers, and empowers them to become community leaders.
The comprehensive services offered to a diverse group of high
school juniors and seniors include: intensive internships in
Cambridge
municipal agencies; a rigorous
weekly seminar on government structure, immigrant history and civic
engagement; one-to-one guidance from volunteer mentors; academic
tutoring and test preparation; hands-on community service projects; and
assistance in accessing higher
education. By creating
a dynamic role for new immigrant young people in municipal government
workplaces, the program also assists the city to diversify its workforce
in order to better represent the community it serves.
Visit the City Links Page
for more information
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The Mentor
Marketplace: The
Mentor Marketplace initiative enlists a diverse corps of adult volunteers
to provide one-to-one guidance for at-risk youth as they seek to overcome
barriers to higher education and successful careers.
Hallmarks of
CCS
’ approach are a dynamic multi-session training that gives volunteers
essential tools and strategies for building successful mentor
relationship, and close ongoing support throughout each volunteer’s
involvement. In addition to
providing mentors for youth in its own programs,
CCS
serves as a “laboratory” for the development and documentation of
effective mentoring practices that can be customized to fit a variety of
program settings. The agency shares these techniques by providing hands-on
technical assistance and training to numerous schools and youth service
providers throughout Massachusetts, building their capacity to offer high
quality volunteer mentoring programs without having to ’reinvent the
wheel.” The ultimate goal
is to enable our partners to maintain a well structured mentor project as
a permanent programmatic enhancement.
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The
Amistad Project: In partnership with the Cambridge Public Schools,
CCS
has initiated several projects that benefit new-immigrant youth and their
families. Our focus is on
assisting students and their parents to adjust to a living in a new
culture, negotiate the public school system, and access opportunities for
higher education and productive careers. Services for new immigrant
students include academic tutoring, mentoring programs, and exposure to a
wide variety of career and post-secondary options.
Families are offered workshops and assistance with parenting
skills, immigration issues, school involvement, and education policy. In
addition,
CCS
assists the schools’ Bilingual Program staff with new course development
and curriculum design, connections to community resources, and
professional development opportunities.
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The Career Pathways Initiative:
In
an ongoing effort to expand and enhance local career exploration, higher
education access, and workforce development programs,
CCS
engages in a series of collaborative projects in various schools and
community organizations. Some
recent initiatives include: an
annual series of higher education and career forums that expose high
school students to a wide variety of industries and professions;
professional development for middle grade teachers in integrating career
and community-based activities into the classroom; hands-on college
financial aid assistance workshops for parents and families; and
job-readiness training for high school student employees, and for their
workplace supervisors. Visit the The Career
Pathways Initiative Page to learn more.
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