Aysha Campbell
DARE Project: York Study Mouse Mentoring and Tutoring Program for Black Youth-in-Care
Program(s) of Study: Sociology
Project Supervisor: Daniel Kikulwe
Running the program that we developed as part of this DARE project and seeing the students actively participate in the activities we planned was an incredible experience. I enjoyed our daily debrief meetings and hearing how inspired and excited the volunteers were for the next day and the ideas they had for the program beyond the one-week summer pilot.
Project Description:
Through the work of the LA&PS’s Anti-Black Racism Strategy, we are in the developmental stages of a comprehensive and long-term program, which will cater to the social and academic needs of Black youth-in-care in and around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The proposed two-week summer programming will bring Black youth-in-care from Toronto and York children’s aid societies. Twenty eligible youth aged 13 to 14 will participate in the program (10 from Toronto CAS and 10 from York CAS). In recognition of the health restrictions, we envision full-day safe programming from August 2 to August 13, targeting grade 8 students as they are transitioning to high-school and often face a shape decrease in their academic assets including loss of elementary school friends. The program will aim at increasing participant self-esteem, which will in turn encourage participants to make sound life choices and lead to improved performance in educational settings. Prior to program implementation, the DARE student will conduct research in areas of youth-in-care to understand their needs. This research will help guide the student towards program development. The student will recruit and work with 9 volunteer students from LA&PS to design the two-week program.The Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) - Undergraduate enables our students to meaningfully engage in research projects supervised by LA&PS faculty members. Find out more about DARE.