Way to Go is a comprehensive youth development and adolescent pregnancy prevention program for more than 50 seventh to twelfth graders from central Syracuse neighborhoods and schools. It is based on the highly effective and well-researched pregnancy prevention program of Dr. Michael Carrera www.stopteenpregnancy.com and the Children’s Aid Society www.childrensaidsociety.org/in New York City.

The program, located at Southwest Community Center, operates four days a week during the school year:

3 to 6 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday
3 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday

Every Way To Go teen has a case manager and participates in activities in these areas:

Mental Health Services. Teens participate in weekly peer support groups. Professional social work services, clinical assessments, or referral to individual and family counseling are available as needed. Substance abuse prevention workshops are also provided in the peer group setting.

Health / Medical Nutrition Services. Every teen receives a complete annual physical and completes a thorough social and family health inventory. Every female receives a yearly gynecological examination. When necessary, physicians provide confidential reproductive health counseling, contraception, and prescriptions. Regular program activities teach personal hygiene and nutrition.

Job Club / Career Exploration. Every young person in the program must obtain a social security card and working papers, practice filling out employment applications, prepare a resume, and open a bank account. Job training activities include computer skills development, video technology, cooking, photography, and peer education. Teens earn stipends for their program participation, and they are encouraged to make deposits to their savings accounts on a regular basis. The teens are expected to obtain summer jobs.

Family Life and Sexuality Education. Formal educational workshops address:

• understanding sexuality (including anatomy, reproduction, HIV/AIDS, sexual orientation, and contraception)
• gender roles
• family roles
• body image
• patterns of affection
• love and intimacy

Many of the teens become peer educators through InterSEXtions, a pregnancy prevention initiative which conducts workshops, outreach and media campaigns.

Academic Assessment / Tutoring. Staff members track academic performance and standardized test scores in math, reading, and writing. Each teen receives an academic "prescription." It summarizes strengths and deficits and serves as a basis for on-going individual and small-group tutorials. Depending on need, participants attend GED, SAT, and regents review classes. Teens visit colleges and receive assistance in completing admission applications and financial aid forms.

Lifetime Individual Sports. Young people learn skills in lifetime sports such as tennis, martial arts, horseback riding, boxing, golf, and swimming.

Creative Arts. During weekly workshops teens use culturally relevant music, dance, role-play and dramatization to explore gender roles, family roles, culture, values, and racism. Calligraphy, ceramics and other arts are also offered.

Community Service. CONTACT Community Services collaborates with Syracuse Model Neighborhoods, Inc. www.swccsyr.org and many other agencies to deliver Way To Go.

For more information on Way To Go, please contact Kimber Gunn, Program Manager, at (315) 251-1400, ext. 113 or kgunn@contactsyracuse.org .