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MEDIA CONTACT: Theresa Danylak tdanylak@warner.rochester.edu
585.275.0777
May 2, 2007
Drug prevention, youth curfew, and job availability were among the top concerns occupying teens' minds the past six months. On Wednesday, May 9, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., a team of 18 youth researchers from the RASA Youth Impact! Program will present their community-based research projects on these key issues, and more, facing teens today.
The RASA Youth Impact! Program, directed by faculty and students at the University of Rochester's Warner School of Education and sponsored by the Rochester After School Academy, has worked with students to collaboratively design and implement community-based research projects on issues important to youth in Rochester.
"Looking at Rochester from the perspective of youth and focusing on our well-being is a great start to understanding what's really going on in the community," said Amarili Wright, a RASA Youth Impact! participant and a student at Edison Tech High School. "This research gives us a chance to put some real information out there and improve our community."
Representing seven local high schools—East High, Edison Tech, John Marshall, Rush-Henrietta, School Without Walls, Wilson Commencement, and Wilson Foundation—youth researchers met every other Saturday for six months to collect and analyze data on issues including: safety and the youth curfew; job availability; urban school resources; parent and community involvement; and alcohol, tobacco, and drug awareness and prevention. Based on their research projects, youth devised recommendations—both for themselves and for the broader Rochester community.
"We're very pleased with the respect and enthusiasm our youth have for the community, and their desire to work on critical issues affecting Rochester's youth," said Sherri Lauver, RASA Youth Impact! co-director and assistant professor at the Warner School of Education. "The RASA Youth Impact! Program helps young people become community leaders by providing apprenticeships and community research skills. This ultimately gives them the platform to be heard while learning about processes of community change in Rochester. Through the program's success, we hope to illustrate the importance of involving youth in voicing their opinions on critical issues and playing an active role in improving Rochester."
Youth researchers will present their research and implications of their findings to the community at the Interfaith Chapel, River Level, on the University of Rochester's River Campus. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Kimberly Wells at (585) 276-3227.
About the Warner School of Education
Founded in 1958, the University of Rochester's Warner School of Education offers master's and doctoral degree programs in teaching and curriculum, school leadership, higher education, counseling, human development, and educational policy. The Warner School of Education offers a new accelerated option for its Ed.D. programs that allows eligible students to earn a doctorate in education in as few as three years part time while holding a professional job in the same field. The Warner School of Education is recognized both regionally and nationally for its tradition of preparing practitioners and researchers to become leaders and agents of change in schools, universities, and community agencies; generating and disseminating research; and actively participating in education reform.
The University of Rochester (www.rochester.edu) is one of the nation's leading private universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives students exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering is complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and the Memorial Art Gallery.
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