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Exchange On-Line
Strengthening Relationships, Building Community
September 2008
Greetings!
 
This issue of Exchange On-Line looks at how important businesses are to youth development-- and we aren't asking for a donation, but rather internship opportunities or a bit of your time.

And, we appreciate that businesses must receive benefits in return. So we talk about that, too.
- Editor
In This Issue
Ways Your Business Can Help High Risk Kids
How Internships Can Help Your Business
September Headlines & Jobs
On My Mind - Dom's Wanderings

Four Important, No-Cost Ways Your Business Can Help At-Risk Kids

Kids

  1. Offer an internship - it can change a teen's life while providing you the help you need. That's what happened to Melissa. Melissa enrolled at the Young Adult Borough Center to appease her parents. She seldom attended class and had no interest in school. She seemed lost and she didn't care. Nevertheless, she liked the idea of an internship.

    Her advocate, James Orlando, was skeptical - she couldn't keep the internship if she didn't attend class. He arranged for an internship, though, at an Island insurance agency anxious for help. They put her straight to work answering phones and handling data entry.

    The agency needed extra staff badly and Melissa immediately felt needed. There were people counting on her.  They trusted her with the work and she responded. They offered her more hours and more pay. She flowered. Her school attendance improved; she passed all her classes. And, she's planning her future - maybe even in insurance.


  2. Be a guest speaker - Sami Farag's company, World Wide Electronics, has been an internship site for many of our students. He personally inspires our students as a guest speaker. When he gives a talk he shares his story about building his business, what he looks for in the people he hires, and the tools they will need for success.

    Kids benefit from hearing the stories that people tell about their journey from high school to successful careers. They want to know your challenges and  failures, whether you were good in school, always knew what you wanted to do, or floundered. They love the funny anecdotes and appreciate learning about how to prepare for a career. They hear more than stories. These become pathways they can follow into their own future.

  3. Give a workshop - Students do well in internships when they can anticipate employer expectations and make sense out of their internship experiences. Workshops like the resume prep workshop that financial planner, Edward Beurnier, often does for YABC students, offers them a peek into the mind of an employer.  It's their opportunity to explore the "whys?" and "who cares?" of the workplace. And a supervisor's perspective is different from their teachers, parents, and peers. 

  4. Provide mentoring - The New York State Department of Labor is an ideal internship site. Students hone their entry level administrative skills while learning about the limitless job opportunities that come across their desks. But, John Mastellone's mentoring makes it an especially good internship site.

    Juan, a YABC student, was interested in an internship "for the money." He just wanted a job. He didn't care what he did.
Juan was rough around the edges. He didn't get along with people, and didn't like being told what to do - not a promising candidate for an internship. However, he started as an entry level clerk at the Dept. of Labor.

John Mastellone and his staff took Juan under their wings. He responded to becoming part of a team of adults for the first time. This young man whose life experience had taught him never to trust adults found people whose opinions he valued. He proved he could handle the work and even worked extra, unpaid days.

Juan graduated in June and is working with his advocate to enter a trade school this fall. He carries with him something he now treasures - an excellent reference.

Consider how you might help our young people learn about the workplace and plan for the future. You might help someone turn their life around. For an exploratory conversation, contact James Orlando, 718-947-4070.

How an Internship Can Help Your Business
Jennifer Saladis
 
Internships don't work unless they benefit the employer as well as the student. So how do employers benefit?
 
Free labor, of course. A business gets help they don't pay for.
 
However, a second, less obvious benefit employers tell ACE manager Jennifer Saladis, is what they learn from the interns. The interns introduce a youthful perspective on the world and the workplace that keeps employers in touch with the changing youth culture.  
Jennifer, who works with young people who have dropped out, says, "Employers are impressed by the strong desire these students have to excel. They find that when high-risk youth are motivated to do well in an internship they bring a level of energy employers don't find elsewhere and often that energy is infectious."
 
Probably the best benefit, though, is that these students come to you as a blank canvas. You can easily train them the way you want things done.

One real estate office on the Island uses the internship program as a training and testing ground for new clerical employees. They employed their first NY Center intern for three years while she finished high school. They threw her a big going away party when she left for college. Their next intern worked for them for two years before graduating.
 
Over 90 employers on Staten Island provide internships for participants in our ACE, YABC, and summer programs. They range from SI CTV to the Department of Labor. They include organizations in both the public and private sector and both for-profits and not-for-profits.
 
If you would like to know more about our internship programs in Brooklyn and Staten Island, contact James Orlando at 718-947-4070.

September Headlines

SI Yankees ScorecardTake me out to the ballgame. Yes, indeed. That is exactly what the New York Center did for its Spotlight Series -- "where the spotlight is on our mediators."
In front of a sold-out crowd the Brooklyn Cyclones robbed our Staten Island Yankees of victory. Nonetheless, with seats in the thick of the action, free food, and Yankees caps, mediators, friends, and staff, enjoyed the opportunity to socialize and unwind.
 -- Gary Carsel

*****
The next Mosaic Coalition meeting will be a Pot Luck Event, Tuesday, September 9th, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm in the Trophy Room of the Spiro Sports Center at Wagner College.  Representatives of the communities we are highlighting at Celebrate Diversity! this year will be there -- China, Russia, Sierra Leone and Native Americans. The Mosaic Coalition's motto is "education through interaction" and during these interactive meetings we practice what we preach. 

Join us Sept. 9th as we try new cuisines, learn about these cultures, and prepare for this year's event, Sunday, November 9th. The magic lies in the moments that lead up to the day. For more information contact Mike Baver, 718-947-4121.

*****
Good news! The NYC Office of Criminal Justice and the NYS Unified Court System Office of ADR and Court Improvement Programs have renewed their contract with us for conflict resolution services. Contract renewal can never be assumed, so we're glad to have it behind us.

*****
The Spotlight Series for mediators this month will focus on working in Small Claims Court - screening procedures, court policies and procedures, agreement writing. Designed for both current and new mediators; scheduled for Wednesday, Sept 24, from 5:30 - 7:30 pm. RSVP to Gary Carsel by Friday, Sept. 19th  718-947-4037

*****
"Adam did an amazing job!" "The trainers were very effective." "I liked the interactive nature - we worked in pairs/groups almost immediately."

Trainer Adam Berner and staff received rave reviews from the twenty-five people who completed our Basic Mediation Training last month. We couldn't accommodate
everyone on the waiting list, so there's a January session in the planning stage.
*****

Advanced Mediation Training Scheduled for Late October
- We're putting the final details together for a two-day advanced training, Working Together with High Conflict Disputants featuring Jack Himmelstein and Katherine Miller. For more information contact Sequoia Stalder - 718-947-4038.


***** advertisement*****
DO YOU NEED A RESOLUTION TO WORKPLACE CONFLICT? Our experienced staff can help. Contact Sequoia Stalder, NY Center Director of Conflict Resolution Services, at 718-947-4038.

*****
National Night Out Against Crime takes place across the country each August to heighten awareness of local crime & drug prevention programs. About 8,000 Staten Islanders turned out this year -twice as many as in the past.

At the NY Center's table, children enjoyed lollipops while their parents learned about our programs. This year, more asked about our special education mediation services. Many signed up for this e-newsletter and two people left considering enrolling in basic mediation training. The event accomplished its goals of strengthening neighborhood spirit and building police/community partnerships. - Mary Castellana
*****
Goodbye and best wishes to Cherise Cooper-Matos who left us September 1st to spend more time with her family. Cherise has co-led the eighteen month effort to open our new transfer school, Olympus Academy. She was also instrumental in building the NY Center and DOE team that makes the SI YABC such a success. We will miss her.

Speaking of open positions - Do you know someone who'd like to work for the NY Center? We're looking for Cherise's replacement.
  • Program Manager - co-leader (with principal) of Olympus Academy in Canarsie. MSW, supervisory, and counseling experience required; should have experience working with at-risk adolescents in a school environment. Full time
Other Open Positions --  
  • Personal Advocates -   BA in social work or other human service field and youth development experience preferred. Part-time in Staten Island; full-time in Brooklyn.
  • Career and Education Counselor for our after school programs, full-time, masters-level and related experience preferred. Immediate start date, Staten Island.
  • Program Assistants, part-time, Staten Island.
If you know someone interested in one of these positions, have them email their resume to Candace Gonzalez.


Please help us expand our circle of friends. Use the "Forward email" link below to send this newsletter to someone you think would be interested. Your friend's address is protected. We don't keep it and won't use or sell it.
ON MY MIND 
Dom's Wanderings
Dominick Brancato
'Work as a developmental tool' was one of five core concepts we formally adopted in 1995. We were selected as one of six sites nationally for CCYD (Community Change for Youth Development) -- a research project sponsored by Public Private Ventures.  It was our first foray into preparing adolescents for the world of work.
 
The YMCA Counseling Center in Park Hill, Bayley Seton Hospital, and our staff collaborated on a project to prepare Stapleton/Park Hill youth and the hospital staff who would supervise them for summer jobs through the City's Summer Youth Employment Program. These were no candy stripers and the supervisors were not all willing participants.
 
The Y staff prepared the kids for the hospital. They spent several afternoons a week throughout the month of June - how to dress, how to talk to the public, co-workers, supervisors; hospital policies on attendance, and a litany of other things. Separately, the supervisors learned what to expect and met the CCYD staff who could assist when problems occurred. They thought through appropriate entry-level work.
 
It was no surprise that both the supervisors and the youth rated the summer experience highly. Evaluations showed that these kids had better attendance, were more productive, and learned more than their counterparts outside the program. Some of those kids keep in touch with us to this day.

It made sense. And, 'work as a developmental tool' has been part of our youth development programs ever since.
 
Throughout the past decade the marriage between youth development and workforce development has grown stronger. Stories
abound of young people like ours who are motivated by jobs to stay in school and improve their grades Alternative schools for students at risk for failing or dropping out now integrate work readiness and internships into the curriculum.
 
Adolescents want to work. Jobs open new worlds and expose them to adult friends, mentors, and role models they've not had access to before. They gain confidence in their worth, sometimes discover a career path, and often learn what they don't want to do with the rest of their lives. And, that motivates them to continue with school.

Staff is busy lining up  fall's internships in
Staten Island and, for the first time, in Brooklyn. I'd appreciate it if you can help or connect us with others who can, Just give us a call.

Enjoy these wonderful fall days.

All the best,

Dom




Our Calendar
calendar

ACT Classes
Helping separating or divorcing parents  understand how to help their children cope with the changes. Visit our calendar for this month's dates.


Tues. Sept 9
Mosaic Coalition
7-9 pm

Wed. Sept. 24
Spotlight on Mediation
Small Claims Court
5:30-7:30

Save the date!
Sunday, Nov. 9
Celebrate Diversity!


Visit our calendar for additional events and details
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WAVE Year-End Slide Show

NYC Launches MySpace Campaign

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Students Reflect on Their Mothers

NYC DOH Report on Teen Suicide

Electronic Monitoring to Curb Truancy
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