Community Perceptions/Schools Community-Based Organizations (Cbos)

Community Perceptions/Schools

Community-based organizations (CBOs) are established as non-profits and designed to address specific local needs. Representatives of two Long Island CBOs recently discussed their youth services organizations and the relationships they had to the function of schooling. Both CBOs strive to make a difference in the lives of Long Island youth by providing them with opportunities that extend beyond the classroom. The Long Island Volunteer Association (LIVA) accomplishes this through various volunteer and service-learning projects. The Cross Island YMCA aims to provide fun and meaningful after-school activities to children of diverse backgrounds who are drawn from a wide geographic area. LIVA and the YMCA share the broad mission of youth services, but they serve different age groups and have different objectives.

Two Community-Based Organizations: LIVA and the YMCA

LIVA is asked by its umbrella agency, the Hands on Network, to "inspire youth to engage in service activities" (personal communication, January 19, 2011). LIVA's philosophy is that youth, as part of the community, must accept some responsibility within the community. In this way, young people learn about other people and their needs. It is a way to teach youth to look outward and be part of something greater than themselves. LIVA believes the schools must teach children about civic responsibility. LIVA's mission is to provide service opportunities to allow students to apply what they have learned.

The YMCA offers constructive, educational activities for students in after school programs as well as during the summer. Whereas LIVA works mostly with high school students, the YMCA mostly serves children from pre-school through grade eight. LIVA aims to connect youth with the outside world through volunteer and service-learning opportunities; by contrast, the YMCA aims to bring together children from the outside world and build a community within its walls. Children who attend programs at the YMCA come from diverse racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. The YMCA programs teach diversity by virtue of extending enrollment to all children. The YMCA's representative, interviewed for this paper, believes that schooling is designed to stimulate the mind and teach children how to build knowledge. The YMCA extends that stimulation and knowledge-building through the programs it offers youth after school and in summer camps.

Both LIVA and the YMCA must maintain good working relationships with schools in order to thrive. LIVA relies on youth volunteers to help fulfill service needs the organization has identified in the community. The YMCA needs youth to participate in the programs it has created. LIVA created a website [http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/1800Vol/long-island-volunteer-center/vcindex.do] to help students connect with volunteer opportunities. LIVA relies on teachers to use the site for matching students with projects. The YMCA, as a national organization, has greater instant name recognition, but still needs to make the community aware of its programs for youth. The Cross Island YMCA has been successful in promoting its programs with the distribution of flyers throughout area schools.

Ideally, LIVA would position itself as "a primary resource for schools to come to for training and for making connections" (personal communication, January 19, 2011). The organization would like to see a shift toward more service-learning projects. In traditional volunteer service, students are matched with opportunities that suit their interests and abilities. With service-learning, students actually participate in the identification of a particular problem in society and work toward developing a solution. Involving students in this way makes them greater stakeholders in the entire process. LIVA hopes that schools will continue to teach the importance of civic responsibility and give students the tools they need to successfully meet the challenges of service-learning projects.

The YMCA, in its way, also wants to help students make connections. Because its programs draw from a number of area schools, the YMCA is well positioned to teach diversity. Adrian Duncan, a night manager at the Y, suggests friendly competitions, such as spelling bees or basketball tournaments, pitting school teams against YMCA teams. The YMCA teams would provide an opportunity for students from different schools and different backgrounds to come together as one.

In challenging economic times, organizations that serve youth and work with volunteers can find sustainable funding difficult. LIVA in particular finds it difficult; the YMCA, with greater name recognition and presumably greater economic resources, did not express that finances are a particular concern.

The current economic climate has been challenging not only for Long Island's non-profits, like LIVA and the YMCA, but for its public school system as well. Long Island property taxes are among the highest in the nation, largely because of the costs of funding public education (Rumsey, 2010). The schools, under the umbrella of the Education Working Group, are collaborating with the Long Island Regional Planning Council (LIRPC) to effect reform by improving schools and containing costs. A twelve-step agenda calls for "addressing educational inequities, unfunded mandates, using technology to more effectively in the classroom, restructuring high schools to optimize the educational experience, consolidating school districts and reducing the costs of the public retirement system" (Rumsey).

Reform of public education is important to LIVA's Tracy Murtagh, Youth Education Coordinator. She is troubled by inequality and cites high performance levels by Garden City students in contrast to poor academic performance by students in neighboring Hempstead. Murtagh believes that quality teachers should be promoted and rewarded to create incentives that lead to better academic performance by all students. Murtagh expressed concern about the state of education in the U.S., citing our nation's low ranking in education on a global scale. The YMCA's Adrian Duncan, Night Manager, expressed concern that, although taxes are high, it can be difficult to see how the money is put to use. While he acknowledges that books and computers are expensive, he feels "either the administrators or public officials are wasting the money or spending it on the wrong things (personal communication, January 19, 2011). Duncan believes that technology has changed the face of education because it has changed students. He believes that the typical eight-year-old today is smarter than the typical eight-year-old of a generation ago. The curriculum must respond to a more technologically-savvy student.