The Mamelodi Initiative

Project Summaries: **Computer Courses: The Level 1 Computer Literacy Course and Level 2 Computer Literacy Course are basic computer courses for Mamelodi High School students. Each class is designed as a 10 week program. Level 1 focuses on keystroke, basic internet skills, and Microsoft Word, while the Level 2 course continues the focuses of Level 1 and adds a Microsoft Excel component. The computer literacy courses aim to empower students by providing computer skills that can help them succeed in academics, in the employment arena, and in personal exploration. **Sports Initiative: Through sports, students gain self confidence, health benefits, and positive relationships. Furthermore, through sports, students can explore the science of the body and the physics of the game. The Sports Initiative program aims to operate two times a week. **Mamelodi Initiative Summer Program: The summer program is a two-week, all-day program designed to focus on life-long skills for Mamelodi high school students. Launched January 2011, the program focused on study skills for rising 8th grades. Each year the curriculum will focus on another life-long skill. Other life-long skills in that this program endeavors to endow are leadership (grade 9), community engagement (grade 10), and thinking about one’s future (grade 11). Ultimately, the program aspires to include Grade 12 students in the program as co-teachers in the classroom. The morning time focuses on skills curriculum while the afternoon allows students to explore a variety of enrichment workshops. **Mamelodi Initiative Winter Program: The winter program is designed to focus on academic excellence. The program’s design is a three-week, all-day program built around South Africa’s national curriculum. The aim of the morning curriculum is to ensure that all of our youth are performing at or above grade level in all subjects. **Mamelodi Initiative After School Program: The afterschool program is designed to offer year-round academic support to Mamelodi high school students. Staffed by University of Pretoria volunteers, the after school program aims to provide a 1:2 teacher-student ratio to provide individualized assistance to ensure success. The after school program is the bridge between the summer and winter program to complete a year-round support system for Mamelodi youth. **Youth Leadership Committee: The youth leadership committee will be composed of 15 high school learners form Mamelodi who show exceptional promise as future leaders in the community. The committee will engage in at least one major service project per year (this project will be designed an executed by the committee). Beyond the major service project per year, committee members will be required to volunteer with one of the other Mamelodi Initiative programs and will participate in monthly meetings and workshops designed to develop leadership skills. In order to encourage participation and to provide employment experience, each program member will receive a small monthly stipend for their work on the committee. **College Access Program: The aim of the College Access Program is to provide guidance and support for students who want to pursue studies at a tertiary institution post-matric. The program is a mentor-based program where each student is paired up with a mentor who meets with them weekly to discuss college needs and assist with the application process and thinking through the many choices that arise for students thinking about further studies. The program also offers full group meetings 1-2 times per month in order to provide information on central topics (how to fill out an application) and to bring in speakers and admission officers from colleges so that learners can ask questions directly to the university. **Career Preparation Program: The Career Preparation Program is a program designed to help Mamelodi high school students and recent graduates access the career market effectively. The program will offer support in writing of curriculum vitae’s, skill building workshops (e.g. how to ace an interview, writing a cover letter, basic computer skills), support in finding internships, and support in actually finding a place of employment. The program hopes to build relationships with local employers to create a direct access line to potential job opportunities for qualified individuals. **Youth Led Household Support Program: Unfortunately there are many households in Mamelodi that, for a variety of reasons, have lost their parents or have minimal parental support or supervision. In many cases, the responsibility of running the house and caring for the younger children falls on older siblings, leading to those siblings having to either drop out of school or performing drastically worse because of the additional obligations they have incurred. The Youth Led Household Support Program desires to adopt youth led households in Mamelodi to provide them food, clothing, assistance with school fees, transportation, and academic support to ensure that youth heads-of-households can still achieve their dreams while ensuring that their obligations at home are being met. **Timeline (Jan 2011) Add: Summer Program (rising 8th grade learners) (Feb 2011- June 2011) Continue: Level 1 Computer Course, Sports Initiative Add: Level 2 Computer Corse, After School Program (June 2011- July 2011) Add: Winter Program (8th grade learners) (July 2011 – December 2011) Continue: Level 1 & 2 Computer Course, Sports Initiative, After School Program Add: College Access Program (need to hire Deputy Director) (Jan 2012) Continue: Summer Program (expand to include rising 8th and 9th grade learners) (Feb 2012- June 2012) Continue: Level 1 & 2 Computer Course, Sports Initiative, After School Program, College Access Program Add: Youth Leadership Committee (need to hire outreach officer) (June 2012- July 2012) Continue: Winter Program (expand to include 8th and 9th grade learners) (July 2012 – December 2012) Continue: Level 1 & 2 Computer Course, Sports Initiative, After School Program, College Access Program, Youth Leadership Committee Add: Career Preparation Program (Jan 2013) Continue: Summer Program (expand to include rising 8th, 9th and 10th grade learners) (Feb 2013- June 2013) Continue: Level 1 & 2 Computer Course, Sports Initiative, After School Program, College Access Program, Youth Leadership Committee, Career Preparation Program Add: Youth Led Household Support Program (June 2013- July 2013) Continue: Winter Program (expand to include 8th, 9th, and 10th grade learners) (July 2013 – December 2013) Continue: Level 1 & 2 Computer Course, Sports Initiative, After School Program, College Access Program, Youth Leadership Committee, Career Preparation Program, Youth Led Household Support Program