| Creating Supportive Networks for Youth |
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"Don't ask me what I want to be, until I've had a chance to explore the possibilities."
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Youth
Entrepreneurship in Kent County, MI
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Wedgwood Christian
Services Order Youth-Made Wood Products from Wedgwood's Employment Training Program. All products are made by youth ages 14 to 18. Click here to see pictures of some of the products YOU can order. The Employment Training Center is located on Byron Center Road in Wyoming, MI. For more information call Tom @ 532-3235 or contact me.
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Caledonia
High School The Daily Grind is a coffee shop developed and run by students in the transition classroom at Caledonia High School. The link below gives extensive info on this great project. Hats off to Mike Huene and his students! http://www.huene.org/the_daily_grind.htm
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Ottawa Hills
Transition and Training Ottawa Hills Transition and Training (POHI) Classroom in Grand Rapids has been diligently working on a business idea and a business plan for most of this school year. This group has become the experts in business planning. AND this project has been totally youth-led, all of the way. They have brainstormed ideas, surveyed the student body, held meetings with adminstrators, and documented their work step by step. They have worked their way through a youth entrepreneurship curriculum, also. They decided to start out small and then build their business. They have begun by selling popcorn and pickels. Now they are looking into open up the old school store that has been unused for several years. Some of the students are bringing the business planning process home and are very interested in exploring ways to use entrepreneurship as a employment outcomes as they exit school. MiConnections is involved in brainstorming, planning, and funding. Let me know if you want contact info.
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| One of
the three strategic priorities of
MiConnections in Kent County
is Youth Entrepreneurship.
Youth Entrepreneurship is one a evidence-based effective practice that improves outcomes for youth with disabilities and is listed in the Guideposts for Success; the framework for MiConnections. For info on Youth Entrepreneurship, go to this document (http://miconnections.ronirvine.net/resourcescd/index--start_here.htm), then click on "youth entrepreneurship". Below is more info on the statewide MiConnections Project.
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MiConnections is a statewide initiative to improve outcomes for all youth
with a focus on youth with disabilities through research-based practice and
broad-based community collaboration. It is funded by the US Department of
Labor with matching funding from the Michigan Department of Education,
Michigan Rehabilitation Services, and the Michigan Commission for the Blind.
Kent County is the first MiConnections site and has designed a process to
implement this program and impact outcomes on a county-wide basis. The
framework for the project is the
"Guideposts for Success", a research-based set of activities that
have proven to improve outcomes for youth. But how do we increase the
practice of these activities throughout all of the schools in Kent County???
Through youth leadership, we are harnessing the energy of youth to create
"clubs" in schools throughout the county. These "clubs" are youth initiated
and youth directed. Based on the interests and preferences of youth, they
are planning activities that explore the possibilities for their future.
Activities tend to fit into three main categories: career exploration, youth
entrepreneurship, and service projects. As a network of "clubs", we are
forming a learning community that will generate support for youth across the
county. Ron Irvine is the Kent County Coordinator and has been involved from the beginning of bringing this project to Michigan and bringing it to Kent County as the pilot site. For more information, see the statewide website. MiConnections is part of the national High School / High Tech network and draws its research, practice, and funding from the source of this program; the US Department of Labor Office of Disability Employment Policy, with technical assistance being provided by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth.
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"It is difficult to say what is impossible . . . for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow" ~Robert Goddard |
"The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it." ~ Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies |
