How do we know if Youth in Focus is accomplishing its mission?

Thanks to a major grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and help from consultant Mary Murray, Youth in Focus now has a better way to answer this critical question.

The good news is that our findings demonstrate that Youth in Focus is a well-designed and executed program that brings significant benefits to our students.

During the course of our three-year evaluation program, which we completed earlier this year, we developed and implemented a series of surveys that captured data related to student outcomes. The findings from this project help us understand the impact of our work, guide program improvements and help us communicate the importance of our program to current and potential supporters.

We discovered that:

1. Long-term participation in YIF positively influences a young person's constructive use of time, empowerment, values and identity.
   
   
2. YIF students gain a strong sense of what makes them unique and valuable; what makes them themselves.
   
   
3. YIF creates a healthy, positive, "family-like" place that is consistent with best practices in after-school programming.
   
   
4. YIF holds high expectations for learning coupled with respect for students' choices and personal responsibility.

We've already used feedback captured in the evaluation program to help us redesign our mentor program, guide improvements to the core class curriculum and help our teachers learn what does and doesn't work in their classrooms. And we still have work to do! We've made a commitment to continue gathering data and using this process to guide decisions from now on, always with the goal of creating the most meaningful experience for our students.

Bowl-a-rama takes bow

On Saturday, November 22, 2008, Youth in Focus gave a striking demonstration that bowling is not just a game for people who like to wear stylish shoes; it's also a great way to build community.

Youth in Focus spared no energy in rolling out our first-ever bowlathon, themed "That 70s Bowl," to raise much-needed dollars to support our photography classes. 63 bowlers, many of them dressed in funky and fabulous 1970's garb, descended on AMF Imperial Lanes, pinning their hopes for everlasting fame and glory on their ability to create devastation with a 14-lb ball.

YIF students demonstrated new portraiture skills by photographing each team as they savored their victories and imagined themselves as Famous and Glamorous Bowlers hounded by the paparazzi. Prizes were awarded in several categories but the best rewards were the $9500 raised to support our students' work, the laughs and the commitment to do it all again in 2009. Stay tuned and join us!

	Photos by Nina

My postcard picture was shot in the alley just under the market, home to the infamous gum wall. Fabulous! Go there if you've never been.

#1 Final print is a picture of persimmons taken at one of the produce vendors stands. Quick shot, no framing, happy with the way it turned out. Especially love the upper leafy stem portions of the fruit, I think it's a beautiful naturally occurring embellishment and gives the fruit its texture and flare. Took quite a long time to print it just right.

#2 Final print is a side angle view of a rail inside the market. Love the boldness of this print and the way just the middle is in focus, and everything else around it is faded, giving off a surreal look. I'm very pleased to have gotten the man walking away from the rail, a dark shadowy figure blending into the end of the rail.

Photography has been a positive release for me, providing me a way to constantly stay busy and productive, which sends a sense of achievement to my being.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Hope you enjoy the show and my photos.

Peace,

– nina c.


Nina not only shines as a talented photographer, but she has become a leader in the YIF community, humble and committed. On top of her photography class, Nina spends two days each week in the YIF office as a Program Intern providing invaluable support, and is involved in the newly formed YIF Youth Advisory Board.

As if that wasn't enough, Nina is also involved in the excellent youth program The Service Board and attending school at Shoreline Community College. Come to the doublexposure Auction on April 17th to see Nina's work in the silent auction! Nina's work will also be shown at the Harrison Street Gallery at Seattle Center from March 18th to April 14th.

doublexposure
Youth in Focus Auction

WHERE: South Lake Union Armory
WHEN: Friday April 17, 5:30pm
Find out more and buy your tickets


Winter End of Quarter Exhibit

Beginning Basic B&W/Intermediate B&W/Beginning Digital
WHERE: Youth in Focus Gallery
WHEN: On exhibit March 12 - May 29, 2009
Artist Reception: Thursday, March 12, 5:30-7pm

Youth in Focus Advanced Black and White and Youth in Focus Advanced Digital Class – sponsored by Adobe Youth Voices
Winter End of Quarter Exhibit
WHERE: Harrison Street Gallery at Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, 98109
WHEN: On exhibit March 18 – April 14, 2009
Artist Reception: Friday, March 20, 5–7pm