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OVERVIEW OF LEAH
MISSION The Leaders in Education, Action and Hope (LEAH) Project is the keystone high school program of the Boston Public Schools' DELTAS that seeks to cultivate the educators and community innovators of the future by providing high school students with leadership and mentoring opportunities in out-of-school time programs. In addition to comprehensive training, LEAH mentors serve as paid staff in out-of-school time programs, where they both learn and contribute. During the internships, mentors work with younger students on academic support, life skills, and a hands-on curriculum, while participating in monthly initiative meetings.   PROGRAM OVERVIEW
How does it work?
Each spring, interested school year LEAH Mentors apply for a summer LEAH intensive, which involves a training and curriculum design institute, summer staff orientation, and then placement in a summer program that serves participants from the Triumph Collaborative. LEAH mentors work approximately 20 hours per week at a site and continue to meet bi-weekly as a group. Eligible summer intensive Mentors return for the next school year to implement new skills and lead a new group of Mentors. THEORY OF CHANGE
Despite the fact that afterschool hours are statistically the most dangerous time for youth, only 33% of teens in Boston are engaged in out-of-school time (OST) programs.1 Through LEAH, DELTAS aims to provide a unique program to attract high school students to participate in afterschool programming. The program serves a three-pronged purpose: building LEAH mentor skills while also building the capacity of afterschool programs to better serve their youth, now, and be more professionally staffed in the future. A recent study commissioned by the Boston Public Schools on high school recruitment and retention in OST suggested that the four most important aspects of a high school afterschool program are: 1. fun; 2. [fostering of] new skill development; 3. [improvement of] existing skills; and 4. safety. Approximately half of all the respondents in this study reported a need to receive an income. With this information DELTAS concluded that an initiative that provides youth with paid, engaging opportunities to learn and develop would be most successful in recruiting, retaining, and mobilizing high school students in the field of OST programming. Growing interest in the LEAH program, as indicated by increased applicants each year, confirms that this was the right decision. There is a strong need for qualified, professional staff for OST programs. Unfortunately, the professional trajectory, of a program staffer in the OST field tends to be a fragmented one. The LEAH Project is a model for the field in providing well-trained staff for programs and professionalizing a career pathway in OST education and leadership. The LEAH training series and curriculum design process also act as an incubator for promising practices to share with LEAH afterschool sites and beyond. Concurrently, the young people who attend OST programs need roles models and mentors, especially from the same community. Research supports several key features of the LEAH program: young people benefit from mentors; high school students need paid, skill-building opportunities during afterschool time that encourage college and workplace readiness; and constructive professional development enhances and professionalizes the field. We are bringing these three key concepts together through the LEAH program. 1 Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center. (2005). Report of the 2004 Boston Youth Survey PROGRAM HISTORY
Leaders in Education, Action and Hope (LEAH) was launched in 2005 as a collaboration of BPS DELTAS office and Urban Ecology Institute (UEI), to celebrate the life of Leah Deni, UEI's founding Out of School Time (OST) Program Director, who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 25. In her memory, LEAH mentors work across the city of Boston as mentors, civic participants, teachers, and stewards of the environment. Attracting and retaining high school students in afterschool programs is challenging. Students have competing responsibilities and interests, one of which is often a strong motivation to earn money. The LEAH program meets their multiple needs by training them to serve the OST sector, enabling them with hands-on experience at after-school sites, compensating them for their work, promoting youth development and teaching marketable job skills. DELTAS believes that by engaging these students in meaningful academic, vocational and recreational activities their attachment to school can be bolstered, they can improve their chances in college and become successful and productive citizens, and they can be competitive in the marketplace because of their job skills. Preliminary data shows that almost all graduates of the LEAH Program enter college and a number of them remain involved in jobs and volunteerism in the education field. Since 2005, 62 young men and women have been trained as LEAH mentors who, in turn, have served approximately 1000 young children at over 20 different out-of-school time programs. There has been an increase in applications for LEAH mentorship position each year of its operation. The program has also seen a dramatic increase in students interested in participating for a second year and third year. IN MEMORY OF LEAH DENI, 1979-2004
Leah lived each day to its fullest, inspiring all of us to be our best, dream big, laugh, play, and believe in ourselves. She empowered youth to be teachers and stewards of the environment as Out-of-School Time Program Director and Partnership Liaison for Urban Ecology Institute, a partner with BPS DELTAS in creating this program. We will never forget her devotion to our work with urban young people and the energy she brought to all of the groups with whom she worked. Her bright spirit and enthusiasm were contagious. Leah approached every task with tremendous energy, talent, and compassion. But we weren't the only ones who knew that Leah's work had to go on. In 2005, we received an outpouring of support from Leah's family, friends, neighbors, and former classmates to create a living memorial, the Leaders through Education, Action & Hope Project. Their generosity has left us forever grateful and in awe that one young woman could have touched so many wonderful people so deeply. Today the lives enriched through LEAH remain her gift to us and our tribute to her. THANKS TO:
The friends and family of Leah Deni Boston Children's Museum Kits Department Urban Ecology Institute Northeastern University An Anonymous Foundation The Boston Foundation The National Science Foundation The United Way Citizen Schools Boston Museum of Science Triumph Collaborative afterschool site staff The families of LEAH Mentors |