Recently in youth Category

The National College Resources Foundation will host its second annual Career Internship and Vocational Expo June 12.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave. Building 3.

The Feb. 27 Family Fun Day at the Pomona Downtown Center will have a focus on Spanish.

"¿Habla Español?" will celebrate art and literacy in Spanish.

Craft activities will include the making of puppets, musical instruments, paper flowers and other items.

Participants will also learn about different types of dancing from folkloric to salsa.

Most activities will be offered in Spanish.

All children participating in Family Fun Day will receive a free book.

Activities will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Pomona Downtown Center, 300 W. Second St.

For information e-mail Adriana Ruvalcaba at acruvalcaba@csupomona.edu or call her at (909) 869-3524.

Family Fun Days are offered free every fourth Saturday of the month by Cal Poly Pomona's Academy for Literacy through the Arts.

POMONA - Since 1995, Pomona High School's AVID program has provided students with the tools they need to succeed in high school as well as college.

Today, Pomona High will learn if it will be named an AVID National Demonstration School.

The recognition would mean that officials from other schools interested in starting or building up an AVID program can visit Pomona High to see how a successful program works, said Steven Baratta, a spokesman with the California AVID Center in San Diego.

Being named a National Demonstration School would do much for the school as well as the community, said several Pomona High students enrolled in AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination.

Not only would it be recognition of the efforts of current and past AVID students and faculty, but it would show people outside of the city that "Pomona isn't filled with gangs and pregnant teens," junior Eunice Chavarin said.

The AVID program aims to give young people the skills and support they need to help them get to college and succeed. Program teachers show students how to study, read for content, take notes and manage time. Students also participate in study groups or tutorials.

"The whole mission of AVID is to find the first generation of college-goers and give them the support they need to get there," Pomona High Principal Roger Fasting said.

Pomona High's program has grown in the past two years under Fasting's leadership.

Nationally, 90 percent of AVID students go on to college after high school. At Pomona High, 97 percent of AVID students go to four-year colleges, he said.

About 20 percent of the school's student body, or 340 students, are part of the program, said Eva Morales-Vargas, a teacher who coordinates the program with colleague Diana Rendon.

In the past, students were invited to attend the program but now they often ask to be part of it.

Limited space means some students end up on a waiting list.

Oftentimes, the program's students have average grades, but demonstrate they have the potential to achieve more. Once in the program, students work on organizational and study skills as well as have biweekly tutoring sessions.

During a recent tutoring session, groups of six students worked under the guidance of college students to tackle subjects such as advanced placement calculus, advanced placement statistics, anatomy, physiology, government and economics.

Each AVID student presented a question to the group that he or she was struggling with and, together, they figured out the answers with the help of their notes, texts and other educational resources.

Senior Daladros Tillett presented a chemistry question to his group. After reviewing the problem with the group, he found out why he wasn't coming up with the right answer - he left out a step in the calculation process.

"This is like a plus," he said. "It makes things a lot easier."

Among the things AVID does is help students learn to recognize there are times when they will need help mastering an academic concept. When that happens, students must know how to go about finding the help they need to overcome their struggles, senior Evelyn Godinez said.

"It's not a bad thing not to know. It's bad to not seek help," Chavarin said.

Junior Floyd Early said he heard about AVID from a cousin who participated in the program. Floyd enrolled in his sophomore year.

"I heard it was a program that helps you go to college, and I do want to go to college," he said.

Floyd said there is no history in his home of people attending college and he will be the first to do so in his immediate family.

Before AVID, Floyd said he thought he would finish high school, go to community college and get a job.

But through AVID, he has come to realize there are many more options.

"There's so much more for me to do," Floyd said.

His plans now include attending a four-year college, possibly UC Irvine or a historically black college. His career interests involve working with young people, either as a psychologist or as a pediatrician.

Floyd also sees his role at home changing. He now views himself as a role model for his two younger siblings and instilling in them a desire to pursue a college education.

Pomona High graduate Saul Del Real said AVID played a significant role in his success.

Del Real, who graduated from Pomona High in 2003, joined AVID as a freshman. While he was a hard-working student, he had questions about college that his parents couldn't answer because they had a limited education.

"I knew I wanted to go (to college) but I didn't know how to get there," Del Real said. Through AVID "they guided me as to what I needed" to do.

Not only was he clear on what classes he needed to take in order to meet college entrance requirements, he worked to improve in areas such as answering essay questions, visited college campuses and heard from speakers talk about their own college and professional experiences.

"They gave us the tools we needed," Del Real said.

Del Real said many of the tools came in handy when he enrolled at UC Santa Barbara, from where he would earn a degree in business economics and global studies.

Del Real, a resident of Manhattan Beach who recently became an international trade officer for a major banking institution, has returned to Pomona High to talk to students about his experiences.

"I would say AVID made a huge difference," he said. "I got a lot more exposure to opportunities."

Current and past members of Pomona Boy Scout Troop 101 will celebrate its 100th founding anniversary with a series of activities next weekend.

Activities will include a luncheon Feb. 20 and special recognition during morning services on Feb. 21 at First Baptist Church of Pomona.

Throughout the weekend activities will give current and former troop members a chance to talk and exchange stories.

Troop 101, formerly known as Troop 1 and Explorer Post 1, started 100 years ago with Pomona First Baptist Church as the group's sponsor, according to a statement from the Scouting group.

Former troop members and Scout leaders are invited to participate in the activities and can register by going to www.troop101pomona.org.

For more information on the celebrations or to learn about how to join the troop, call Nancy Matarrita at 909-629-5277, ext. 3014.

Inland Valley Hope Partners is reminding residents of the region
Super Bowl Sunday can be about more than football.

The organization, which provides emergency food and shelter to those in
need, is encouraging young people to take part in the Souper Bowl of Caring.

Youth groups can help raise money to support food pantries such as the ones
run by Inland Valley Hope Partners through the Souper Bowl of Caring, the
organization said in a statement this week.

Youth groups can set up a soup pot at the exits of their houses of worship
on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 7, and ask for contributions of $1.

The proceeds are then donated to local organizations, soup kitchens or food
pantries, such as Inland Valley Hope Partners, which provides food to the
hungry.

Inland Valley Hope Partners runs food pantries in Pomona, Ontario, San Dimas
and Claremont.

A part of the project includes the Service Blitz.

The blitz takes place the Saturday before the game and involves youth groups
volunteering at the local food pantry, soup kitchen or other food security
center that will benefit from their donation.

The service day will also allow participants to see how the contribution will help those in need.

Last year more than $10 million was raised for pantries across the country,
the organization said.

For information on the Souper Bowl of Caring and other ways youth groups can
assist, e-mail Amy Modglin at amym@hope-partners.com or call her at
909-622-3806, ext. 242.

POMONA - A community group has begun preparing to focus their efforts on drawing young people away from unhealthy lifestyles and putting them on a path leading to productive lives.

The first step to carrying out their mission involved an all-day training session with a member of the National Gang Center to learn about an approach to working with teens and young adults who are already involved in things such as gangs and drugs.

City residents, educators, law enforcement, clergy, representatives of social service agencies, non-profits and members of the Pomona Youth and Family Master Plan Community Board were among those who gathered at the Pomona Valley Mining Company late last week to learn about the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Comprehensive Gang Model.

"Gang violence is a complex issue and requires a comprehensive solution," said Community Board member Bernardo Rosa.

Rosa said he's been following how cities have used the federal model since 1994 and has observed the impact it can have on a neighborhood, he said.

"I've been watching it galvanize a community," Rosa said.

Among the components of the model is creating teams made up of educators, law enforcement, parole, social services, and outreach workers who together concentrate on providing services ranging from job training to substance abuse counseling to young people.

Before the model can be implemented crime data must be collected to identify crime problems connected to gang activity, said Michelle Arciaga, senior research associate with the National Gang Center, which works with the federal government to teach communities to use the model.

Gathering the data is critical because it will show where the greatest need within the city exists providing a starting point for the model's implementation, she said.

Arciaga said Pomona is better prepared tha some who seek to use this model.

"They are way ahead of some cities" that trained under this model, Arciaga said. "That's huge because (the city) is much more organized."

What has given Pomona that head start is the work leading up to and following the creation of the Youth and Family Master Plan, Arciaga and others said.

The master plan is a strategy designed to create a healthier environment for youth and families where young people can reach their potential.

"The Youth and Family Master Plan is the foundation...It irrigated the field," Rosa said.

After listening to Arciaga's presentation some attendees said the federal model can have a significant impact in Pomona.

Pomona Police Chief Dave Keetle said such a model can work as a piece in a three part approach to addressing some of the city's crime problems.

Prevention and suppression are the two other elements that complete the picture and must not be forgotten, he said.

"This can work but it can be one of the three pillars of an overall plan," Keetle said. "We need to work on all three pieces together to have a long term effect."

Community board member Nancy Matarrita said Pomona must start collecting data to use in identifying a part of the city where efforts can begin. Once that's done grants can be sought and written agreements developed with those who will be part of the teams working with future clients.

Pomona Unified School District's Interim Superintendent Richard Martinez also believes this is an approach that can help teens and young adult who are taking part in risky behavior.

Martinez said such approaches have been used and worked in other parts of Los Angeles County.

One important ingredient is the use of outreach workers who have direct contact with young people they work with and makes sure the youths are using the services they need.

Jobs are another critical piece of the formula that requires working with businesses to make sure young people pulled away for gangs and violence don't go back to that life, Martinez said.

A concern Martinez has about implementing the model is funding.

City Manager Linda Lowry said during the training session the city can serve as the lead agency if the decision to move forward with the model is made. As the lead agency it would seek grants and help from county and federal elected officials to secure funds for some parts of the model.

Using the federal model would fill a gap that is not being addressed now in dealing with certain types of negative behavior such as gangs, Martinez said.

"We have a lot of programs that deal with prevention but this fills the gap in intervention," he said.