This article investigates how strategic community partnerships form the bedrock of successful institutional community engagement activities. In this investigation, these engagements encourage institutional practitioners to consider how truly effective community economic development materializes when the university assumes a reactionary role by…

Non-profit organizations and community programs work with at-risk youth to teach social-emotional skills like empathy, self-confidence, and self-efficacy. This research aimed to examine best practices for community programs that use human-animal interaction as an intervention for at-risk youth. Specifically, the phenomenological study aimed to…

Mentoring is widely cited as a strategy to increase the representation of Latinx in technology, but the role of informal relationships with adults outside their family remains unclear. This study explores how natural mentoring is utilized by Latinx youth at a community-based organization, including the perspectives of both mentors and mentees,…

This paper presents a background of the rates at which educators, teaching artists, college students, retirees, parents, and the public attend arts programs in their schools and communities. The researcher circulated a 19-question online survey to measure the rates of attendance to visual and performing arts events, such as music, dance, arts…

For many years, those who work in the mentoring field have wondered how they can extend the impact of their programs beyond the benefits experienced by young people they serve. There has been an increasing desire within our field to harness the power of mentoring to enable the youth served in a program to not just grow individually, but to…

A growing movement suggests that social and emotional learning (SEL) should be integrated into educational experiences in and outside schools. Afterschool programs can be particularly well suited for SEL, and afterschool educators can play an important role in skill development. We interviewed 23 experienced afterschool educators in…

Background: School-based COVID-19 testing is a potential strategy to limit COVID-19 transmission among youth in congregate settings such as schools, sports programs, and summer camps. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of frequent rapid antigen testing at a supervised distance-learning setting for elementary…

This report evaluates the Institute of Museum and Library Services' (IMLS) four grant programs specifically designed to support library and museum services in Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian (Kanaka Maoli) communities. Conducted by a combination of Kituwah Services, LLC (Kituwah Services), ICF, and IMLS, the evaluation examined…

Community engagement in the classroom can take several forms such as engaged scholarship, service learning, and philanthropy. Each of these activities connects course material with the immediate community, creating a multi-directional discourse. In this article we explain and provide a program evaluation of the Student Philanthropy and Community…

Community dance has been used as an arts-based approach in healthcare, key for expression in populations who may not typically have access to dance. This study sought to conduct an empirical exploration of family caregivers' perceived psychosocial wellbeing when regularly participating in community dance classes. Community dance can be defined as…

Youth development programs often provide young people with science learning experiences. We argue for reframing youth science learning from a focus on individual scientific literacy to an emphasis on collective scientific literacy--"community science"--to support young people in using science to address issues in their lives and…

The transformation of Black communities and the erasure of their history has resulted in a gap in intergenerational connections and knowledge among the youths (15-24) and older adults (55+). This article describes the multi-faceted process behind an intergenerational critical Youth-centered Participatory Action Research (cYPAR) project. The…

Students studying technical fields like IS/IT (Information Systems/Information Technology) face the challenge of showing potential employers that they have done work for real clients, not just course projects that are never used. At the same time, instructors face the challenge of actively engaging students in learning course content and…

Under-education in Cameroon significantly hampers the nation's socio-economic development. Addressing this issue is crucial for enhancing the overall quality of life and economic growth of the country. This study identifies and analyses the primary factors contributing to under-education, offering actionable solutions to improve educational…

Youth-staff relationships and program activities are important elements in designing high-quality afterschool activities that promote a broad range of outcomes. Using a qualitative approach, Latinx adolescents were interviewed (n = 28, 50% girls) about their experiences in a university-based afterschool math enrichment activity. Findings under the…