The goal of our Youth Services program is to connect students, parents, schools and the Louisville community.
The refugee experience can be especially challenging for youth. Many arrive in the United States with gaps in their education or no previous formal schooling. Language barriers, cultural differences and miscommunication can often frustrate students and teachers. Parents may feel disconnected from their child's education because of a lack of English skills or knowledge of the school system. Refugee youth may also feel socially isolated from American students and other immigrant youth. KRM's Youth Services program is dedicated to helping refugee students improve their English skills, rise to grade-level proficiency in all other subjects and adapt socially to their new environment. Youth Services also works for cooperative relationships between parents and teachers, encouraging refugee families to participate in their childrens' schools as a first step towards civic engagement in their new community.
KRM Youth Services "Leap into Literacy" program is a new early grade reading outreach to KRM refugee families in Metro Louisville. The program is a proud recipient of the 2011 Turning Up the Heat Together Grant. The grant, a initiative of the Metro United Way and the Community Foundation of Louisville, is part of 55,000 Degrees, a Metro Louisville-wide program aimed at adding 40,000 bachelor's degrees and 15,000 associates degrees to the city by 2020. The goal of the grant is to fuel early childhood to post-secondary educational initiatives that will support future college graduates.
Leap into Literacy promotes reading, family literacy and regular school attendance for 80 early grade (K-3) recently-arrived refugee children. Children involved in the program will receive English books on their reading level, dictionaries, as well as bilingual books in their native language and English. Through an extension of the New Beginnings Tutoring/Mentoring program, these early grade students and their families will be paired with a tutor/mentor and receive greater educational support throughout the 2011-12 academic year.
Many thanks to the Metro United Way and the Community Foundation for their support!
If you would like to find out more or be involved in Leap into Literacy, please contact Youth Services Coordinator, Adrienne Eisenmenger: aeisenmenger@kyrm.org.
Urgent Needs:
Backpacks: new or gently used school backpacks.
School uniforms: We are in need of school uniforms in sizes 3T, 4T, and 5-14. Male, female, and unisex white long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirts, khaki pants and shorts, navy blue pants and shorts
School supplies: folders with pockets, 1-subject notebooks (wide and college-ruled), washable markers, rulers, colored pencils, 3x5 index cards, scissors (blunt point and regular), small bottles of hand sanitizer, highlighters, graph paper
KRM helps schools:
Coordinate the New Beginnings program, a home-based tutoring and mentoring program which matches immigrant and refugee youth with volunteers to improve literacy skills, support health social adjustment and increase parental involvement in schools
Provide liasons between teachers and refugee parents
Advocate for students and their families
Provide service learning opportunities and educational materials for students to learn about refugee issues and help to welcome our newest neighbors
KRM helps youth:
Register with the Jefferson County Public Schools' English as a Second Language Program
Partner with volunteers from the New Beginnings program to improve school performance and social integration
Connect to community resources including sports, family counseling, volunteer opportunities, leadership roles, the arts and summer jobs
Refugee youth of school age that arrive in the summer attend the Summer Youth Program. Held at KRM, the students take part in ESL classes, cultural orientations, sports, art, etc. This program offers youth their first exposure to an American school system, provides them with a basic foundation of English and introduces them to their new peers in American. Please see the Photo Gallery or KRM's Facebook page for pictures from the Summer Youth Program.
For more information on Youth Services, please contact Adrienne Eisenmenger at (502) 479-9180, ext. 43 or aeisenmenger@kyrm.org.
Kentucky Refugee
Ministries thanks the following sponsors for their generous support of our
Youth Services Program:
Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Inc. 969-B Cherokee Road * Louisville, KY40204 * 502.479.9180 1206 North Limestone * Lexington, KY40505 * 859.226.5661
