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News: Character & Asset Builders Newletter:

We are celebrating the big 40 over here at the Channel Islands YMCA! 40 Developmental Assets framework which has been gaining momentum in our community schools and agencies this year! The 40 Assets are divided into eight categories which are crucial to the healthy development of all youth.

They are: Support, Empowerment, Boundaries and Expectations, Constructive use of Time, Commitment to Learning, Positive Values, Social Competencies, and Positive Identity

Search Institute (www.search-institute.org) is the backbone behind this researched based framework. New research from longitudinal studies reports that, “Students whose levels of Developmental Assets remained stable or increased had significantly higher GPA’s three years later than students who declined in their Assets. And the more their Assets increased, their GPA increased.”

History of 40 Developmental Assets SB County:

In 2004 Dos Pueblos High School became the pilot school in our county. A survey was completed by 900 students in 2003 with the results undertaken by student and staff task forces. In the past year we have increased our Assets for Santa Barbara Youth Coalition members two fold. Reflecting the positive response of the 40 Develomental Assets model the coalition now includes schools, law enforcement and youth agencies all working toward a positive future for youth in our community.

NEW- The Channel Islands YMCA and Isla Vista Elementary School will be working together to integrate 40 Assets school wide and to serve as the pilot Elementary School in SB County. Plans include integration school wide training all teachers, after school programs, PTA members, family newsletters and meetings and family service projects. Also, Goleta Valley Jr. High will work with the YMCA to be the pilot Jr. High integrating the framework school wide in 2006-07 school year.

The Channel Islands YMCA and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History present: Artists Field Day: An Asset and Character Building Event!

Dancers, musicians, poets, visual artists, film makers and photographers will fill the SB Museum of Natural History with cutting edge new works and works in progress all under the themes of Collaboration and the Creative Process. Artists will be asked to expand and explore their creative aptitudes through diverse collaborations with other artistic mediums.

Bringing Our Community Together through Art Project
Schools, community youth agencies, hospital residents, probation/juvenile hall and shelters will work with professional artists to create unique professionally guided art projects focusing on mentorship and caring by linking different segments of the Santa Barbara community together bridging the gap between intergenerational and disenfranchised communities. All art creations will be on display at the Artists Field Day. Laminated placemats, letters and poems of caring, support t-shirts and giant care posters will be made with each recipient in mind via their questionnaire.

Any questions call Sinead or Lisa :
Sinead Kerr
Program Assistant
569-1103 ext. 28

Fact

Many students do not have role models. When 1,000 students from ages 13-17 were asked to name their biggest hero today, 21 percent said, “no one”. Here’s what other teens said:

• A Parent – 16.2 %
• An athlete – 15.0%
• A religious leader – 6.8%
• A musician – 6.4%
• A friend – 5.5%
• An actor – 4.7%
• An educator – 3.2%
• A business leader – 0.7%
• A politician – 0.3%
• A community activist – 0.2%

Source: The Mood of American Youth (Alexandria, VA: Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1996)

Other News

We just recently trained five new sites. Integration and supply materials are underway! A preschool alliance is forming as well as a business sponsorship committee. San Marcos High School is utilizing the framework in their sports department. A student task force is projected to spread the word through out the entire school. Our goal is to have many different departments of the school actively engaging. Ideas for a school “Asset” rally led by the athletes along with weekly segments in the school media from the journalism class have been projected.

Pay It Forward

You may start to notice students and staff wearing a trendy bracelet with your school colors that says, “Take A Second- Make A Difference.” These bracelets are supplied by the Channel Islands YMCA, and are used as a tool to promote the 40 Assets Developmental Framework. Each time a student is seen expressing an Asset they are given two bracelets. One for themselves, and another to give to someone else who they see demonstrating an Asset.

Next Assets for Santa Barbara Youth Coalition Meeting; February 28th, 12:15-1:15 at the Santa Barbara YMCA

join us for a light lunch, networking and discussion on upcoming community projects!

To reserve a space, contact:
LisaTM@ciymca.org
569-1103 ext 11

The YMCA is the lead programming agency for 40 Developmental Assets in Santa Barbara County and facilitates the Assets for Santa Barbara Youth Coalition. Founding Coalition partners are the Channel Islands YMCA, Santa Barbara County Education Department, United Way of Santa Barbara County and The Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. There are 14 schools and agencies currently participating.

This project aims to create awareness, compassion and understanding through linking populations in our community that have been segregated from the mainstream via, shelters, hospitals and retirement homes. Youth will have the opportunity to learn about the life a homeless person had before he was homeless, the life that an elderly woman had before she entered the retirement home thus creating an understanding and realization of the depth of “humanness” that disenfranchised people have. The project elicits a narrowing of the gap for youth awareness, compassion and understanding. Alongside the youth participation as artists, disenfranchised people will have the opportunity to create unique customized art pieces for youth through questionnaires that youth will provide to intermediary mentors for transfer to participating agencies. Disenfranchised people will have the opportunity to feel involved, show they care and feel self esteem through the creation of a piece of customized art for a youth. Through this project, “Bringing Our Community Together through Art” we aim create a large shift in perception through awareness, understanding and creation of an individualized art piece for a fellow Santa Barbara community member whom is cross-generational and holds a diversity element.

For more information contact;
Lisa Thomas Macrum
Program Director
569-1103 ext. 11
LisaTM@ciymca.org

www.artistsfieldday.com

Assets in Action
Each year, hundreds of high school students gather at Iowa state University in Ames, Iowa, for the Teen Get a Grip (GAG) conference. Over three days of events and activities, they learn to improve their leadership abilities and avoid peer pressure. Staffed by college students, former GAG graduates, and Department of Public safety officers, funded through the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau, the conference attracts students ages 14-18 from all over

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