Engaging Latino Youth in Northfield

2013 Fiscal Year Funding Amount

$10,000

Project of

Building a Stronger MN: Challenges and Opportunities in Latino Education

Fund Source

Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund

Recipient

TORCH (Tackling Obstacles, Raising College Hopes), Northfield High School

Recipient Type

K-12 Education

Non-Profit Business/Entity

Status

Completed

Start Date

October 2013

End Date

March 2014

Activity Type

Education/Outreach/Engagement

Counties Affected

Dakota

Goodhue

Rice

Project Overview

The TORCH program used Elements of Success to further connect with, engage, and support Latino youth in the Northfield High School and Middle School. The TORCH program supports youth personally and academically from 6th to 12th grade.

Project Details: 2013 Fiscal Year

Legal Citation / Subdivision

Minnesota Law 2011 (Special Session), Chp. 6, Art. 4, Sec. 2, Subd. 8

Appropriation Language

Councils of Color. $500,000 the first year and $500,000 the second year are for competitive grants to the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, the Council on Black Minnesotans, the Indian Affairs Council, and the Chicano Latino Affairs Council. Grants are for programs and cooperation between the Minnesota Humanities Center and the grant recipients for community events and programs that celebrate and preserve artistic, historical, and cultural heritage.

2013 Fiscal Year Funding Amount

$10,000

Direct expenses

$10,000

Administration costs

Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

15 Latino students will serve on the Youth Advisory Board to help build relationships between Northfield High School staff and students
35 Latino youth will visit a college campus, which will provide exposure to post-secondary opportunities
10 intentional mentoring "matches" for Latino youth will be supported by TORCH and community partners
50 Latino youth will receive academic support and have access to career exploration at the Middle School Youth Center
100% of Latino seniors will apply to college by the end of March 2014
50% of Latino youth will earn college credit while in high school to increase their college readiness capacity
100% of TORCH families will be contacted by a TORCH staff member to increase family engagement
100% of Latino youth in TORCH will have individual academic advising at least twice per month to increase academic success

Measurable Outcome(s)

20 Latino students served on the TORCH Youth Advisory Board in the middle and high school to help build relationships between Northfield school staff and students
67 Latino middle and high school youth visited a college campus, which provided exposure to post-secondary opportunities
13 intentional mentoring "matches" for Latino youth were supported by TORCH and community partners
66 Latino youth accessed academic support and career exploration at the Middle School Youth Center
100% (15/15) of Latino seniors applied to college by the end of December 2013
50% (9/15) of Latino youth earned college credit while in high school to increase their college readiness capacity, of the 40% of Latino youth who did not earn college credit, all but one student will earn CLEP credit before June. By the end of the school year TORCH expects to have over 90% of its Latino seniors to have earned college credit.
100% of TORCH Latino families were contacted by a TORCH staff member to increase family engagement
100% of Latino youth in TORCH received individual academic advising at least twice per month to increase academic success

Recipient Board Members

Marnie Thompson, TORCH director and Assistant Principal of Northfield High School; Susan Sanderson, Middle School TORCH Coordinator; Zach Pruitt, HCI Executive Director; Kim Horner, High School TORCH Co-Coordinator; Teddy Gelderman, High School TORCH Co-Coordinator