Field experiences of past students

(Contact the graduate assistant for more field experience summaries and examples of field experience proposals.)

Professional writing: grants, proposals, etc.

• Co-founded Aurora Charter School, a charter school for K-2 monolingual Spanish-speaking immigrant children. Full proposal to Minneapolis School District is included in Cheryl’s portfolio.
• Co-authored a book for religious youth workers called Helping Youth Make Healthy Decisions: A practical guide for congregations
• Researched and wrote “Effective Practice: An Informal Evaluation Study of Grassroots Hmong Community Youth Programs in the Twin Cities”

Incorporated travel

• Worked with CANICA, Support Centre for Qaxaca’s Street Children in Qaxaca, Mexico
• Developed Literacy Corps service learning programs in 12 schools in England (original goal was 2!)
• Studied private secondary schools in Spain & France to learn how "fine educational facilities" in other countries did their work.

Involved direct service

• Organized and led a group of youth to map, research, and clean 2 caves in Red Wing, MN.
• Worked with Buklod Centre in Olongapa City, Philippines to help organize an effort to raise Amerasian issues to U.S. government to amend bills to support Amerasians and start a network of support and awareness in the U.S.
• Participated in Red Wing Area Committee on Racism and Diversity and supported a youth-initiated group to combat racism called One Nation Under a Groove

Program samplers

An exploration of one or more programs of a particular type

• Visited and participated in 4 different youth development programs designed for Native American youth for one week at a time. Programs: Wisconsin Indian Youth Leadership Conference; Native Roots Theater Troupe; The Main; and UMN’s Upward Bound Vision Quest
• Studied leadership and vision at LeCenter School District with the intent of gaining a “more liberal and in-depth understanding of formal, secondary education in MN”
• Observed and interviewed teachers, tracked 2 youth at Anoka County Day School and Correctional School

Internships

• Internship with Fairview/Riverside Adolescent Chemical Dependency Program: Outpatient Unit
• Internship at Children’s Museum in Seattle and served as part of community services team as an AmeriCorps Fellow
• Internship with MN Coalition for the Homeless Internship Program to gather information from homeless youth and social service providers and present findings to the public

Program development

• Worked with Lyndale Neighborhood Association’s Youth Initiative resulting in 4 neighborhood drop-in centers designed and coordinated by youth
• Created and implemented female adolescence enrichment program called GEMS, Girls Self Empowerment
• Developed and implement peer education program in N.G.M. Major High School in Bahamas

Youth focused evaluation/research

• Logan Park-St. Anthony East Community Health Program: designed and carried out data collection with young people and adults that uncovered health service needs for the neighborhood.
• Project on Vocation, Work, & Youth Development: Interviewed about 40 youth (in Boy Scout Exploring program, Americorps Youthworks, and College of St. Catherine) to understand from their perspective the issue of the changing nature of decision-making, life-style choosing, and life-planning
• Researched and visited rural youth ministries to discover what exists and what they do to be successful.

Training

• Developed and implemented Healthy Youth Development training for Hennepin County foster parents. Also developed and implemented Independent Life Skills program for youth in foster care.
• Developed TC Best training curriculum
• Implemented Community Youthwork Training in Hawthorne Neighborhood in North Minneapolis

November 2004