YOUTH DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION INC
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Mission Statement
To grow a community of self-motivated students by offering high-quality educational activities, developing supportive long-term relationships, and providing personalized opportunities for success
About This Cause
At YDO, we believe the achievement gap in Lawrence is driven, in no small part, by an opportunity gap for our youth—the lack of accessible, consistent, quality out-of-school-time activities. In response, we deliver on a unique mission. Last year alone, we served ~600 Lawrence youth with year-round enrichment focused on STEM, the arts, and leadership development. We start with students as young as eight; provide them with classes, programs, and support through elementary and middle school; offer them advanced learning and leadership opportunities as well as continued mentoring through high school; and keep engaging them through postsecondary pursuits and as alumni. We strive to provide all of these “YDO Kids” with choices—something that underserved youth in cities like ours so often lack. We combine mentoring with frequent points of engagement, which are begun and maintained through the following annual programs. In addition to course-specific learning, these offerings help students develop skills in critical thinking and teamwork as well as patience, resiliency, creativity, and adaptability—building blocks of a solid future, regardless of postsecondary and professional paths. -- Science Academy (3rd Grade+): This hands-on enrichment augments students’ school-based math and science education. Semester classes vary and have included Astronomy, Circuits Workshop, Spreadsheets 101, Wacky Inventions, Python Coding, Physics, Biochemistry, and LEGO Robotics. A number of these courses are taught by older YDO Kids. --STEM Design Lab (5th-12th Grades): In our engineering lab, students tackle more challenging, multidisciplinary courses such as 3-D Printing & Prototyping, Motorized Carnival Games, Magnetic Inventions, Botball Robotics, and Makehers (girls-only maker space course). Along the way, students build skills in areas such as mathematical applications/modeling, mechanical/electrical engineering design concepts/skills, and advanced coding. Like the Academy, we tap older YDO Kids to support course delivery. -- YDO@Phillips Academy (3rd-5th Grades): For 16 years, YDO has taken elementary school students to Andover for 15 weeks of enrichment classes delivered by Phillips students (e.g., Debate, American Sign Language, Climate Change). -- Art Clubs (3rd Grade+): These afterschool semester classes provide opportunities to develop creative interests (e.g., Dance, Creative Writing, Piano, Mixed Media Art, Photography, Ceramics). This January, we added YDO Strings in partnership with Phillips. YDO recruited third and fourth graders who travel to Andover weekly for lessons on their pick of violin, cello, piano, or harp. We also recently launched the Merrimack Valley Youth Choir and have incorporated a musical theater education program with which we had partnered for years. -- YDO Summer (3rd-8th Grades): This unique program is designed and delivered annually by Lawrence youth, for Lawrence youth. Older YDO Kids lead YDO Summer and hire high school/college students (mainly fellow YDO Kids) to plan and teach five weeks of full-day courses for YDO Kids in elementary and middle school (e.g., Financial Literacy, Dance, Mindfulness, Coding, Music Analysis, Circuits Workshop, Responsible Social Media). -- Leaders Hub (6th Grade+): The aforementioned teaching and leadership roles within YDO are available, and we connect students to scholarship, leadership, and entrepreneurship programs. We also support our middle school students with the independent high school application process. -- Postsecondary Pathways: Delivered in partnership with Abbott Lawrence Academy, and recently expanded to Lawrence High School, this college access and success program begins serving students as juniors and continues with them through graduation and matriculation in college. Through Pathways, these Lawrence youth access the kinds of support, guidance, tools, and connections to college admissions teams that are regularly available to their higher-income peers. Together, we develop and execute strategies for earning financially feasible technical certifications or associate’s and/or bachelor’s degrees. All upperclassmen receive free, individualized guidance with the college search, application, financial aid, and admissions processes. And, as a nonprofit independent from LPS, we can continue to serve students after graduation, so we have developed a campus program for Pathways graduates. Programs like ours can only be effective if youth can consistently access them. Since our founding, we have prioritized the removal of two chronic obstacles to students' long-term participation: cost and transportation. As a result, at YDO, we measure our participants' engagement in years, not weeks or months. The deep and long-standing relationships we build with youth are possible, in part, because all offerings (including field trips and course materials) are provided free for residents of Lawrence. In addition, YDO maintains a student transportation program, with a fleet vans and a team that works year-round to make safe and reliable transportation available to all students who need it (for a $15 weekly fee, waived if needed): from school to YDO; home after our classes; and to/from YDO partners. Approximately two-thirds of YDO participants rely on this service over the course of the year. Our transportation program is vital to maintaining the breadth of our programs and organizational partnerships as well as the depth of YDO Kids’ engagement with them.