Youth & Teens
Live Y’ers is the YWCA’s after-school and mentoring program for at-risk girls. We serve Lodge Community School and Glenwood Leadership Academy, both K-8 Title I schools with high free and reduced lunch rates, and then follow these girls through twelfth grade at Bosse High School. The goal of Live Y’ers is that these girls graduate from high school and delay pregnancy. If girls can achieve these goals, they are much more likely to further their education beyond high school and become productive women who can support themselves and their children.
From third grade through high school, staff hold age-appropriate discussions on female development and reproduction using video tapes and other resources along with guest speakers. Other activities for the elementary after-school program include math and science games and projects; cultural awareness programs; decision-making and peer resistance components as well as other important topics addressed through videos, group exercises, role play, and discussions; life skills such as cooking and swimming; and a variety of other activities.
Middle school girls are assigned mentors and activities include lunch with mentors and program staff where topics are introduced by staff and reinforced by mentors. A discussion calendar is developed for the school year and includes topics such as drugs and alcohol, smoking, decision making, education, jobs, female development, reproduction, sexuality, abstinence, peer pressure, etc. The mentors also spend time discussing spontaneous issues initiated by the girls. This mentoring relationship is ongoing from sixth through twelfth grade. There is also a career education program where girls participate in four sessions at each business location learning about career opportunities, potential income, and education requirements through collaboration with Deaconess Hospital, WFIE-14, Old National Bank, Evansville Police and Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department, and the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library.
The lunch-time mentoring program continues through twelfth grade for girls who go on to Bosse High School. An after-school component takes place in a house owned by the YWCA within walking distance from the high school. Discussion is continued on health issues and other components to encourage mature decision making. We provide tutoring and opportunities to enhance computer skills for research and homework.
Live Y’ers is unique in several ways––a strong collaboration with the schools and the large number of girls (80%) who choose to join Live Y’ers and continue in the program year after year. Most important is the length of time we maintain regular contact with the girls—from third through twelfth grade. This long-term relationship offers a greater chance for these girls to achieve the goals of the program— graduation from high school and delay of pregnancy.
Funding for this program is provided by CDBG funds through the City of Evansville, Department of Metropolitan Development
Did you know?
- Students who meet regularly with their mentors are 52% less likely to skip a day of school and 37% less likely to skip a class.
- Youth who regularly meet with their mentors are 46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking.
- Mentors help young people set career goals and start taking steps to realize them.
- In a study on youth participation in a mentoring program, 53% were enrolled in college the first year after high school graduation, compared to 49% in a control group.
- Mentored youth have a better attitude towards school.
- Participating in a mentoring relationship promotes positive social attitudes and relationships.
Beginning in sixth grade, Live Y’ers girls are matched with an adult mentor who has a sustained one-on-one relationship with the mentee through high school. Once in high school, Live Y’ers participants maintain relationships with thir mentors and attend after-school programming at the “Bosse House.” This is a house located close to Bosse High School where girls are able to attend daily activities such as self-esteem building exercises, lessons on life-skills, hygiene, health, peer pressure and making good decisions. Girls meet with staff and mentors throughout the year to discuss abstinence, sexuality, health issues, and reproduction using age appropriate materials. They learn decision-making skills, how to deal with peer pressure and participate in a variety of academic activities.
If you are interested in making a difference in a young girl’s life, find out more about mentoring opportunities by contacting YWCA Youth Programs Director Courtney Edwards at 812-422-1191 or cedwards@ywcaevansville.org.