OASIS (Outdoor Action for Social and Intrapersonal Strength)

Vital Stats

Carissa M

Durham, NC

people helped180
People Doing It 28

The Problem

Educational disparities prevail in Durham, North Carolina, where the wealthy enjoy an education in some of the nation’s top private schools, while the poor remain in one of the nation’s worst public school districts. Despite the low quality of these public schools, there remain many students who are thirsty for knowledge and eager for opportunity—if only someone could help them afford it. The Durham Nativity School, a middle school for at-risk boys in Durham, identifies those youth who are most eager for opportunity, but who are most hard-pressed to obtain it. The school solicits donations to offer those students a free private education at the Durham Nativity School, which they would otherwise be unable to afford. “At-risk youth” in Durham are those youth who live in a certain environment or with certain conditions that put them at an increased risk of dropping out of school or engaging in behaviors that are harmful to themselves or to others. All youth experience some type of challenges growing up, but unlike children from wealthier families, these children are not able to afford outside opportunities for empowerment and character development, such as summer camps, sports academies, or ski trips. The Durham Nativity School provides an academic environment that stimulates its students in a way that the public school system does not. But stimulating classes and quality teachers are not the only important factors in youth empowerment. The Durham Nativity School operates completely on donations, and as such its ability to offer its students opportunities beyond academics is limited. OASIS works with the Durham Nativity School and three local colleges to provide challenge-oriented opportunities for confidence building and character development.

Plan of Action

OASIS utilizes a dual retreat and mentorship program to offer the students of the Durham Nativity School opportunities for confidence building, character development, and fun. Run by a collaboration of students from Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Elon University, the Retreat Program implements two retreats each year. These weekend-long retreats give students the opportunity to engage in action-oriented and reflective activities designed both to excite and challenge the students. Past retreats have focused on geocashing, canoeing, high ropes courses, rock climbing, and archery. Each retreat also has a theme, and throughout the weekend, participants listen to a number of interactive talks about that theme given by different speakers. Students also engage in a number of reflective activities to help them realize what they have accomplished, and what they can accomplish in the future. Of course, the retreats also involve a number of other games, competitions, and pick-up sports games that middle school boys enjoy. At the end of each retreat, OASIS works with the Durham Nativity School to coordinate a reflective Essay Contest into their English curriculum. Students write reflective essays based on the retreat’s theme, their experience on the retreat, and what lessons they took away for the future. The winning essay is published in Duke University publications. The mentorship portion of the program offers more sustained contact with the Durham Nativity School students. As part of this program, DNS students come to Duke University’s campus every other Friday for 3 hours. During this time, participants and leaders from Ubuntu Living Group at Duke University participate in a fun activity related to what they have been learning in class. Past activities have included scavenger hunts orienting students to Duke’s campus, a tour of the award-winning Duke Smart Home, and bake-offs that require students to convert, add, subtract, and multiply fractions. After the activity, participants use their Duke Student ID Cards to enjoy dinner at one of Duke’s on-campus eateries with their Duke student leaders. Often times, “Duke Celebrities” from the basketball and football teams will even join us for the day. These mentorship programs not only allows Duke students and Durham Nativity School students the chance to interact and learn from each other, but they also make Durham Nativity School students feel as though they are a part of the Duke Community. This elevates their self-confidence, urging them to continue working hard in school so they can one day become students at a University that they already love. OASIS members also participate in independent activities with the Durham Nativity School. For example, many of us tutor weekly at the school, working one-on-one with specific students struggling in certain subjects. Two of us have also produced a full documentary project of the school (http://durhamnativityschool.wordpress.com). At the heart of OASIS is a very deep personal relationship between our members and the students, parents, teachers, and administrators of the Durham Nativity School. We as individuals take a personal interest in the well being of the school and its students, and are eager to get involved in any way that we can to benefit them.

Project Updates

Our next retreat will be on April 23, 2010, when we will be taking the kids to kayak and participate in wilderness exercises along the Eno river in North Carolina.

Donate now to help make it possible!
http://www.active.com/donate/oasisretreat