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Project Details
Created:
10/05/2008
Project Title:
Promote 360 Community Outreach Initiative
Project Category:
Education
Project Status:
Proposal
CASE Competition
CASE Competition:
Illinois Campus Compact - Illinois Campus Compact
Grant Winner
Project Snapshot
Problem:
Solution:
Student Information
College or University:
Northwestern University
State:
Illinois
Student Name:
Maddie Orenstein
Year in College:
Junior
Major:
Social Policy (Bachelor of Science)
Faculty Advisor
Advisor Name:
Natalie Furlett
Community Partner
Partner Name:
Promote 360 at Northwestern University
Student and Community
What societal problem does your project solve?
"Promote 360: A Cycle of Minority Empowerment and Support" was founded by a group of undergraduates from Northwestern's School of Education and Social Policy. The organization's mission is to enhance and promote the well-being of minority students. This CASE Grant project, P360's Community Outreach Initiative, focuses on supporting High School students in the Chicago Public Schools who do not have adequate direction or support from their high schools in understanding how to best utilize their assets and resources to further their education, specifically in applying to post-secondary education. If awarded this CASE Grant, Promote 360 will use the funding to make possible this community initiative with high schoolers and hopefully partner with Urban Students Empowered.The problem lies not in the students' lack of motivation or intelligence, but in the failure of the Chicago Public Schools to provide the consistent support needed for students to complete each step of the process according to their best options. The root of this problem is in the inequities of the school system; especially for underrepresented minorities and low income students who may not know the resources that exist for them in working towards applying to and enrolling in post-secondary education. Those students may think that going to college is not possible for them.
What would be the measurable outcomes of the partnership that you propose to create between the community and your educational institution?
We hope to gain the support of the Northwestern community for Promote 360's Community Outreach Initiative and general mission. Promote 360 seeks to work with CPS schools as part of this Community Outreach Initiative (see "Enlisting Partners" sections), and the following are three measurable outcomes:*Host an application night for high school students - help fill out admission and scholarship applications, FAFSA forms, and all other relevant materials
*Speak at area high schools
*Help students see what college life is like - this is measurable through individual follow up by college-student mentors
How would you, with the support of your faculty advisor on campus and some one from the community, work together around this specified community issue?
The Center for Student involvement and School of Education and Social Policy will allow us the space to showcase the benefits and possibilities of going to college, as well as help us with transportation and potential Northwestern admissions resources.The CPS system will provide us with the opportunity to work with interested students and will also help us explain the application process from the high school side.
How would you envision sharing power and decision making in the partnership? In other words, instead of doing something for the community how would you do something with the community?
We will consult the schools about the ways that they are already working, and build off of this. The partnership will be collaborative in that we will not be changing any existing programs or resources, just better understanding how we can further include students who may have been discouraged or intimidated and provide levels of support for them. It will also hand the power to the students in that they will decide how to use the tools given to them. They will also be mentors for the middle school students, which will make them role models and leaders whose actions and opinions then become valued and important. We will not be doing anything for the students, but helping to show them their options and potential, and how to best use the assets and gifts that they do have.How would you collect data on what the project was doing and use it in the decision making process?
We would track the number of high school students involved in the program, as well as the number of volunteers from Northwestern. We hope to provide a mentorship component to the program, which would allow for individualized tracking of goals, awareness of resources and educational opportunities, and application progress. This data would be used to analyze the effectiveness of the program and determine how to improve upon the program or possibly develop other ways to better address the problem.What would be the project activities? Give examples of how the strengths already existing in the community will be acknowledged, built upon, and enhanced in the partnership to solve the problem.
This initiative is based on celebrating and drawing attention to the strengths and skills of CPS students, and raising awareness about all of the educational opportunities, resources, and support available to them. Too often, problems are blamed on students who are written off as being either "unmotivated" or "unintelligent," when in reality, the problems are due to systemic issues in the school system and our greater society.What obstacles or challenges might you encounter in implementing your project, and how would you address them?
Potential obstacles include working with the bureaucracy of CPS, adding another level of logistics for families and students, not understanding the backgrounds of the students, not having the information needed, and a lack of commitment. We will do our best to utilize volunteers with a wide range of backgrounds and look to Urban Students Empowered and similar organizations to study their best practices. We will also work on forming partnerships with CPS schools early and use any connections offered through the School of Education and Social Policy.
Recruiting Volunteers:
Would you recruit additional student volunteers? If so, how?
Enlisting Partners:
Do you envision enlisting businesses, or other organizations, etc., to help; if so, how?
How would the award money be used here?
If your project idea is an innovation of an existing
program, what are its current funding sources?
What do you anticipate learning from engaging in the service project?
I am currently enrolled in a School of Education and Social Policy course called "Legal Aspects of Education," and this would be an opportunity for experiential learning about the public school system at the macro-organizational level. We would distribute information about this Community Outreach Initiative in class, as well as in other School of Education and Social Policy classes. Promote 360 also has an academic component; it is an organization with the academic success and overall well-being of minority students at its core.If the above questions have not enabled you to convey the essence and value of your project’s impact, use this space to supplement your answers.
Please submit an abstract (clear summary) of your proposed project idea.
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