Our education curriculum is designed to engage and capture students on the job learning. Unlike traditional internship contracts- our approach is not to set goals up front, but to nurture learning as it occurs, engage students in reflecting on what they have experienced, and guide their exploration beyond their immediate work station or duties.
Guided Mentoring Tools:
Our guided mentoring tools provide supervisors with the activity, structure and support they need to develop a meaningful and supportive relationship with their intern.
Every month, our guided mentoring tools offer a new interview topic that requires teens to interview staff or colleagues and share their experience with their supervisors. Interviews are followed up with personal thank you letters- providing both a reflection document and a model for professional communication.
Through the process, interns fully engage in their workplace, develop their communication skills, build relationships, and improve their understanding of their jobs, their roles and the mission of the business. Over time, teens come to realize that their workplace is more than a job, it’s a place where they belong, contribute and communicate with adults, as a young adult.
A Youth Development GPS System for Teens:
Our Goals, Plans and Support maps are coordinated and administered by YF staff. This curriculum builds collaboration with interns school, job and family. By sharing information with teens various support systems, YF staff are able to identify teens unique strengths and challenges. These are then used to celebrate success and form short term goal setting. With SMART action plans and a support system to promote success we focus teens on growth and success- today and tomorrow.
According to a report compiled by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, teens who participate in YF internships demonstrate significant growth in their ability to work with adults, developing their communication skills and their self confidence. And when asked to rank on a 1 to 7 scale, from strongly disagree to strongly agree, if they would recommend YouthForce to other teens, YF was proud to receive an outstandingly supportive response of 6.8.
Applications For Use In Schools:
We also hope that they provide a valuable resource for teachers for class discussion or extra credit, and for counselors who are seeking portfolio examples to demonstrate student skills and the application of their education and knowledge.