2015-2016 Annual Report

Academics Mentoring Athletics

2015-2016 Annual Report

SNAP SHOTS

Sandra has been a dedicated mentor for Adriana since January 2013

meeting both in school for lunch, as well as in the community occasionally.

Sandra has gone above and beyond as a mentor, exceeding the time ex-

pectations and sometimes meeting twice a week with Adriana. She en-

courages Adriana to try new activities and games that will support her aca-

demic and social growth. Noticing Adriana’s interest in animals and sci-

ence, Sandra wanted to support and encourage her to think of future ca-

reers. This led the two of them to volunteer together at the Humane Soci-

ety. After learning the safety and caretaking procedures to volunteer with

the cats, the two volunteer several hours a month. Adriana states she en-

joys being able to spend time with animals and Sandra and is thinking of a

career in animal caretaking at a zoo.

This year Striders piloted a health and wellness mentoring program, Kids

on the Move. Four adult mentors met with a group of 18 students to train

for the St. Pat’s Dash. Mentors led mentees in weekly lessons on running

safety, proper stretching, and healthy eating before heading out for a

group run. Students and mentors ran in the cold February snow. After

each run, students and mentors met back at Fletcher Elementary school

to eat a healthy snack and do a few cool down activities. Students also

filled out journals to document their feelings about each run. On one par-

ticularly cold day one student exclaimed, “It was tough but I did it.”

Chautauqua Striders is dedicated to the

mentoring and guidance of youth through

education, advocacy and athletics.

Originally founded in 1979 as a local track club, Chautauqua

Striders has since developed into a multifaceted community

organization, proudly offering diversified programs that incorporate

its mission to "Mentor and guide youth through education, advocacy

and athletics." The not-for-profit agency, based in Jamestown, New

York, provides tutoring, mentoring, outreach and athletic programs

to more than 1,800 Chautauqua County youth annually. The goal of

Chautauqua Striders is to help youth graduate high school inspired

with the knowledge, skills, and confidence required for successful

college and career experiences.

Our Mission

By The Numbers

1,531 participants ages 5-21

197 track club members

118 volunteer mentors

29 tutors

13 staff members

From The Board I would like to officially welcome Pete Morgante as the Executive Director of Chautauqua Striders, Inc. Pete was officially appoint-ed in April and brings 37 years of educational experience to Chautauqua Striders. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Educa-tion and a Master’s Degree in Reading from SUNY Fredonia. Pete also has a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Saint Bonaventure University. He taught at Cassadaga Valley for 25 years, served as the K to 12 principal at Panama Central School, and was the Superintendent of Schools at Alexandria Bay and Pine Valley Central Schools. Pete recently served as the interim Jun-ior/Senior High School Principal at Salamanca Central School. He is a member of Holy Apostles Catholic Church, Lakewood Rod and Gun, Eagles, Rotary, YMCA, and Moonbrook Country Club. Pete serves on the board of directors for the Girl Scouts of America and the YMCA.

I would also like to welcome back two employees to Chautauqua Striders, Michelle Waterman and David Reinhardt. Michelle Wa-terman is returning to Jamestown and to Chautauqua Striders as the Director of Education. Michelle is a graduate of Jamestown High School, Jamestown Community College, and SUNY Fredonia with a Bachelor’s Degree in English, Secondary Education with Post-Graduate coursework in Curriculum and Instruction completed through Gannon University. Beginning her career as a middle school tutor for Striders, Michelle was hired as the Elementary Coordinator in 2005 where she continued to serve for eight years.

David has been a Strider for his entire life. His name is synonymous with track and field. Along with Athletics, Reinhardt has devel-oped and implemented many successful outreach and mentoring programs for the organization. A community icon, his dedication to helping young people realize and achieve their potential through education, athletics, and mentoring has been recognized on both state and national levels.

The mission of our organization is “Chautauqua Striders is dedicated to the mentoring and guidance of youth through education, advocacy, and athletics.” This is very evident in the many successful programs that we run. During the 2015-16 funding year we served 1,531 youth throughout Chautauqua County.

Through our academic Program, 775 students received homework help, were retaught material, and studied for exams, and were prepared for SAT Prep and Regents Assessments. The SAFARI Program held at Jamestown High School enrolled 111 students. These students received small group academic assistance and mentoring.

Our Mentoring Program matched 145 youth with mentors, logging 1,635 hours of mentoring; our Life Skills Program worked with 166 youth and their families; and 34 students from Fletcher Elementary School participated in a newly created program Kids on the Move. Mentors and their mentees meet exploring the community, eating lunch or dinner, working on a project and building posi-tive relations. Our Life Skills Program offers activities in English and Spanish that are specifically designed to improve soft skills such as communication, feelings, identification and expression, relationship building, and time management. Life Skills educators also act as a liaison between home building a bridge of communication and creating a positive educational experience for youth and families. Our newly created program, Kids On the Move, enabled students to train weekly for a 5k run/walk develop healthy living skills and gain knowledge in nutrition. The culminating event of this program was running in our annual St. Pat’s Dash and am proud to say all Kids on the Move students ran and finished the race. What fun!

Our Athletic Program is comprised of a Youth Development Program, a Track and Field Club, and an Athletic Club. 118 youth par-ticipated in our Youth Development Program introducing and giving them a solid introduction to the sport of track and field. Twen-ty-one athletes participated in our Track and Field Club honing their track skills and teaching them the value of hard work, disci-pline and education. 112 runners participated in our adult Athletic Club. This club promotes and encourages life-long fitness through running and walking and provides financial support for our youth programs. New this year was a program called Striders on the Move. Over 40 participants trained on Mondays to improve their physical fitness and their 5K time.

I would like to thank our board members Max Martin- Vice Chair, Marty Idzik-Secretary, Michele Lunz- Treasurer, Susan Churchill, Ellen Ditonto, Katie Geise, Robb Jones, Dan Lausterer, Karen Mason, Tim Shults, Heather Turner, Daryl Wadsworth, Karl Wiggins, Jay Yaggie, and John Zabrodsky for their dedication and service. I would especially like to thank Ellen and Tim, who are leaving our board, for their years of dedicated service. Ellen and Tim, you will be missed!

I would especially like to thank our dedicated staff who tirelessly work supporting our many endeavors. I would like to thank our many funders and our community for their unyielding support. Striders is definitely on the move and together we can continue moving forward helping youth graduate from high school inspired with the knowledge, skills, and confidence required for success-ful college and career experiences.

With sincere appreciation,

Rob Liebers

Board Chairperson

Year in Review

Chautauqua Striders works with students throughout

Chautauqua County in grades K-12, as well as students

of Cassadaga Job Corps and individuals finished with

high school who are looking for support in placement

tests for Jamestown Community College and Jamestown

Business College.

and Job corps

Academics

The Academic Programing offered by Chautauqua Striders consists of re-teaching material that students

struggle with, homework help, assistance in studying for assessments, and preparation for Regents Examina-

tions. Our Academic Program is taught as part of the Jamestown Public Schools After School Programs, as a

partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Jamestown and Northern Chautauqua County, as a partnership

with Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. at Brocton Central School, and at our office locations, the Main office

on 301 East Second Street in Jamestown , the North County office at 296 Lakeshore Drive East in Dunkirk.

29 Tutors 51,435 Tutoring Sessions

775 Students 28,254 Homework Assignments

Program Sites

Striders at Jamestown Public Schools After School Programs

Bush Elementary School 45 students

Ring Elementary School 54 students

Fletcher Elementary School 46 students

Love Elementary School 32 students

Jefferson Middle School 68 students

Washington Middle School 43 students

Striders at Jamestown High School

SAFARI Program 111 students

Striders at Jamestown Boys and Girls Club

Boys and Girls Club 60 students

Striders at Main Office

Main Office 150 students

Striders at North County

Brocton Elementary School 16 students

North County Office 137 students

Cassadaga Job Corps 54 students

Academics

students from 4 north county

school districts attended at least

one STEAM Workshop made

possible by Northern Chautauqua

Community Foundation

117

Academics

Male Female

47% 53%

Academics

After attending one of our tutoring programs for approximately five weeks, students are administered the

Student Assessment Rubric by their tutors. Based on their five-week performance, students are assigned a

starting value ranging between 0 and 3 to assess their Academic Behavior, Self-Initiative, Management Skills,

Basic Skills, Grades, and Attendance. Students are reassessed in June. This value, as compared to their

initial starting value, is meant to chart their progress during the time they attended.

Key

Improved: increase greater than or equal to .5 Maintain Satisfactory: Greater than or equal to 1.5 with less than .5 change Maintain Unsatisfactory: Less than 1.5 with less than .5 change Regress: Decrease greater than or equal to .5

Through the support of the Sheldon Foundation and a partnership with Jamestown Public Schools,

Chautauqua Striders, Inc. is fortunate to administer a program entitled SAFARI at the Jamestown High School.

The acronym SAFARI stands for Students Attaining Future Aspirations, Respect, and Inspiration which is the

goal or mission of the program.

Safari is a regular scheduled class that provides

academic assistance and mentoring to approximately

one hundred students a year. Students scheduled into

to this program are deemed at risk of dropping out of

school or failing to meet graduation requirements.

Through the consistent support of a tutor who also

serves as a mentor, students set subject specific goals

and work through barriers that will enable them to

realize their potential to excel.

SAFARI

Of the 328 students who graduated in June of 2016, 38 or 12% attended SAFARI one or more years while

attending JHS.

SAFARI

Of the 111 students, 78 students received course credit in one or more core subjects.

5 SAFARI Tutors 111 Students

22% IEP or 504 11% English Language Learners

SAFARI

During the 2015-16 school year 122 Regents Exams were

administered to SAFARI Students

SAFARI

47% Female Male

53%

SAFARI

Students scheduled into to this program by school counselors are deemed at-risk of dropping out of school

or failing to meet graduation requirements. After students have been attendance for approximately five

weeks students are administered the Student Assessment Rubric by the SAFARI Staff. Based on their

five-week performance students are assigned a starting value ranging between 0 and 3, to assess their

Academic Behavior, Self-Initiative, Management Skills, Basic Skills, Grades, and Attendance. Students are

reassessed in June. The value, as compared to their initial starting value, is meant to chart their progress

during the time they attended SAFARI.

*The validity of this year’s results are not valid because the same SAFARI Staff member did not give the pre- and post-test

Key

Improved: increase greater than or

equal to .5

Maintain Satisfactory: Greater than

or Equal to 1.5 with less than .5

change

Maintain Unsatisfactory: Less than

1.5 with less than .5 change

Regress: Decrease greater than or

equal to .5

SAFARI Assessment Rubric

Mentoring

Mentor one child, change two lives

Chautauqua Striders mentoring provides students with another

caring adult to offer support and encouragement. Mentors and

mentees are asked to spend at least 4 hours a month together

exploring the community, eating lunch at school, working on a

project or planning for future. The goal of the program is to help

youth graduate high school.

Community Based Mentoring

School Based Mentoring

E-mentoring

Peer Mentoring

Our mentors logged over 1,635 hours of

mentoring

Mentoring by the numbers

39 Months—average match length

60%

40% Female

Male

145 Youth Matched With a Mentor

23 Project Based Mentoring Matches

18 E-Mentoring Matches

Mentoring by the numbers

The Hemingway subscales measure positive connections to important ad-

olescent worlds. The four major worlds include connectedness to

1) school (school and teachers), 2) family (parents and siblings), 3) friends

and 4) self and are depicted in the figure above. The theoretical basis and

empirical validation for these scales is described in the manual and more

fully elsewhere (Karcher, 2000a). (adolecentconnectedness.com)

85%

91%

44%

38%

40%

37%

37%

39%

85% Decreased problems

with peers

91% Decreased Hyperactivity

64% Decreased Conduct Problems

Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

The SDQ is a research based behavior

screening that measures 5 scales ; emo-

tional problems, conduct problems, peer

problems, hyperactivity, and pro-social

behavior. (www.sdqinfo.org)

Life Skills Education

166 Youth Participants 4 Staff Members, 2 Interns

23% English Language Learners 10 Schools

Life Skills Educators (LSE) meet with students in groups of 3 to 5 once a week during the school day

utilizing the evidence based curriculum from ARISE Life Skills Programs (at-riskyouth.org). Group lessons

focus on eliminating hurdles that prevent students from achieving academic success. Activities, offered in

both English and Spanish, are specifically designed to meet the needs of each group and focus on develop-

ing soft skills such as communication, feelings identification and expression, relationship building and time

management.

In addition to working with the youth, LSE staff act as liaisons between home and school, helping to build a

bridge of communication and create positive educational experiences for youth and families

Life Skills Education

The SDQ s a brief behavioral screening questionnaire that measures children's symptoms and

positive attributes related to 5 subscales; 1) emotional problems, 2) conduct problems,

3) hyperactivity and inattention 4) peer relationship problems and 5) pro-social behavior .

This questionnaire is given to parents at the time of intake and again at the end of the school

year.

23%

37%

40%

43%

20%

29%

29%

14%

37% 43%

97% Of students showed a positive improvement

in at least one subscale measurement

Emo

tio

nal

Co

nd

uct P

rob

lem

s

Hyp

eracti

vity

Pe

er P

rob

lem

s

Pro

-Social

Life Skills Education

The Hemingway Scale of Connectedness measures positive

connections of youth to important adolescent worlds. Positive changes

in Connectedness subscales have been found to correlate with

academic success and graduation.

70% Of students improved in one or more subscales

29% 17% 39% 30%

29% 27% 24%

Kids On The Move

Kids on the Move is a new health and wellness mentoring program offered to students at Fletcher

Elementary School thanks to the school’s Community Schools Grant. Mentors and mentees met weekly to

train for a 5K run/walk and develop skills and knowledge in healthy eating, proper stretching and staying

motivated.

During the weekly meetings, mentors provided mentees with a short interactive lesson to help them devel-

op healthy living skills including proper nutrition and running safety. After the lesson and warm up, the men-

tors and students run or walk a predetermined distance and increase each week.

This year Striders offered 2 group sessions and students trained for the Chautauqua Striders St. Pat’s 3 mile

Dash in March and the Cummins Run for Literacy in May.

34 Youth Participants 5 Mentors

24 students session 2 18 students session 1

Kids On The Move

50% 50%

Male Female

23% of students attended sessions 1 and 2

4th Grade

3rd Grade

41% Of families (parents or older

siblings) ran or walked in the

races with the youth

participant

Athletics

Since its inception 35 years ago, Striders has encouraged young people to channel their energies into

physical activity and to persevere in pursuit of their goals. While the track and field team has produced

athletes of national and Olympic caliber, the most notable achievements of the program can be measured by

personal best and improved ability by participants at every level. Chautauqua Striders also encourages and

promotes participation in the sport of track and field through

USA Track and Field youth programs available to area school

districts. Programs like USATF’s Run, Jump, & Throw foster

physical fitness and provide a fun introduction to the sport.

Youth Development

In the track and field program, designed for ages 14 and under, children learn and develop basic athletic

skills during June and July. Competitions are based on age and give the participants and their parents a solid

introduction to the sport. Young athletes can choose the events in which they compete based on their indi-

vidual interests and abilities.

118 June and July 2015 participants

Boys 100m Hurdles – 9-12 Division (week 2)

1. Andrew Brown 15.4

2. Luke Brown 17.4

3. Colin Johnson 17.8

4. Nicholas Bell 17.9

5. Connor Bush 18.1

6. Domenic Cusimano 18.5

7. Jack Lundberg 18.6

8. Dominyck Brown 19.9

9. Anthony Hughes 21.4

10. Zachary Bishop 22.0

Girls 55m Dash – 7/8 Division (week 1)

1. McKenna Cuifolo 9.7

2. Olivia Alfa 11.1

3. Caidence Rapp 11.2

4. Abigail Bullaro 11.4

5. Leah Olejniczak 11.5

6. Brooke Warner 12.3

7. Isabella Anderson 12.6

8. Sarah Teagarden 12.8

Athletics

The Track and Field Club

Nationally competitive, this program is intended for athletes 13 and up who participate in USA Track and

Field events as well as regional, national, and international meets. In addition to honing their physical skills,

athletes are mentored by coaches who help them gain self-confidence and motivate them to realize their

individual potential. Former athletes attest to the impact the track and field team has made in their lives

because it taught them the value of hard work, discipline,

and education.

21 Participants, May – July 2015

112

Athletic Club

The mission of the Chautauqua Striders Athletic Club is to encourage and promote life-long fitness through

running & walking. The program provides the road running community an opportunity to train and compete

as a team. The Athletic Club as provides programs to develop and support runners throughout the year.

participants

Athletics

Winter 5K Series

Never letting the winter weather keep them away from what they

love, Runners meet for five separate 5Ks starting and ending at the

Lakewood Rod and Gun Club.

Road Races

St. Patrick’s Dash 327 runners

Daniel Feather Memorial 5K 168 runners

Runner of the Year Series This is a year-long grand prix style running competition designed to determine the top adult distance runners in Chautauqua County. During the year, runners accumulate points in selected Chautauqua County races.

Brooke Adams (Top Female)

Adam Rowe (Top Male)

Athletics

Striders On The Move

For the first time, Chautauqua Striders designed a fitness training program for anyone ages 13 and older looking to get back into shape, improve their overall physical fitness or improve 5K finishing times.

This once a week program ran for 11 weeks beginning January 4th and ending March 14th. The program took place at the Jamestown Savings Bank Arena track and was instructed by Brooke Adams. The program included group runs, dynamic stretching, interval training, and health and wellness tips.

45 participants

Financials

Moving Forward

Main Office tutoring will focus on reading and math intervention for Elementary and Middle

School students

Main Office tutoring for High School Students will specialize in Science and Math

After School Tutoring will expand to include all Jamestown Public Schools

Workshops will be offered in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math subjects (STEM)

Youth Cross Country Program

Chip times road races

Project Based Mentoring– Short term mentoring with High School and college students as

mentors

2 Family Run 5Ks in June to support Kids on the Move, one in Jamestown and one in Dunkirk

Kids on the Move expanding to other Jamestown schools and to Dunkirk

Life Skills Education expanding in Dunkirk and Jamestown Schools

SAFARI will become Striders@JHS

Thank You!

A special Thank You to our major contributors:

Carnahan Jackson Foundation

Chautauqua County Youth Bureau

Chautauqua Opportunities, Inc.

Chautauqua Region Community Foundation

Cummins—Jamestown Engine Plant

Five Star Bank

Holmberg Foundation

Hultquist Foundation, Inc.

Jamestown City School District

Jessie Smith Darrah Fund

Johnson Foundation

Lynn Development Corporation

Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation

Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation, Inc.

Shults Auto Group

The Lenna Foundation

United Way of Northern Chautauqua County

United Way of Southern Chautauqua County