hi thinktankers!

I thought I would chime in on this thread from Troy Bike Rescue in Troy, NY.

we have a Youth Shop once a week on tuesdays from 3-6pm.  similarly we work with mostly kids from our immediate neighborhood and do earn-a-bike and self-service guided bike repair for kids ages 10-15.  16 and up are supposed to come to open shop sessions.

as far as numbers go, we have about 20 kids come through the shop on a given week.  we are also all-volunteer, but the collective consensed to have small monthly stipends attached to certain tasks for the busy months, so there are 3 stipended youth shop staff/volunteers.  in theory it helps with commitment because if people dont show, the kids still come and nothing is worse than dealing with needy kids when understaffed. so far, its working.  people getting stipends appreciate it, and it helps the rest of the collective realize that doing youthshop is much more difficult than coming to open shop. we have a standing reassessment policy so at semi-weekly meetings at any point, the whole stipend system could be proposed to be revised.

over the past two years, we have developed a 'chainring' ranking system.  for a kid to participate, he/she must have a parent-signed waiver, then, he/she gets a polaroid picture taken and it goes on the board wherever they are currently "ranked"... from training wheels, to first, second, or third chainring.  rather than time put it, it is a skill-sbased system.  each kid has a checklist of his/her skills in a binder at the front counter, and as they progress through skills, they earn check marks, and climb in rank.  to earn a bike, a kid must be at least on the second chainring.  once on the third chainring, they earn 'open shop privileges' which means they can come to 'adult time'  the third chain ring is pretty advanced skills, and only a few kids are there.  the idea is that they are mentors, but that depends a lot on the kid, as to whether they want to actually be a mentor figure.
here is the skills checklist: http://troybikerescue.org/files/YouthshopSkillsChecklist.pdf

anyways.  lately, its been pretty crazy.  summer is on.  kids are out in droves.  plenty of interpersonal conflict.  some bike theft.  plenty of gimme this and gimme that.   we have learned to kick kids out who are not actively working on something... anything.   and the system has dramatically improved how we deal with kids who show up every now and again....  and how we deal with kids who just want to 'hang out' and not really work = they aren't really welcomed....   those who do show up more often and have ambition to learn and help others are rewarded... and its public because their pictures hang on the learn and earn board in their appropriate 'level': https://picasaweb.google.com/107632478766557853949/Wheelhouse_Summer11#5632925875598585970

if anyone wants to talk more about pros and cons and just lament the drama and/or celebrate the rewards of working with youth, feel free to email me personally, or add to this great thread!




On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 11:50 AM, MoBo Bicycle Co-op <mobobicyclecoop@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Collective Genius:
 
MoBo runs a Kids Day program in the summer and we wanted to know how a few other co-ops ran similiar programs. Our program works like this: We are an all volunteer run program but we have a paid coordinator who runs Kids Day. It's one day a week and kids must have a parent sign a waiver form. We will work with kids to fix up their own bikes and we have an earn-a-bike program for kids who need a bike. Kids are asked to work with our gardens program to work in the gardens, including weeding, turning compost, picking fruit, planting, learning how to build an oven using solar energy--things like that.
 
However, we have a couple questions that we are wondering if the Collective Genius could help us with. They are:
 
1) Our program has exploded in this, our fifth year. We normally have 15 kids a day at kids day. This year,we 've been having over 40 or 50 on site. And because we are volunteer run, we do not have enough volunteers to watch all the kids or get bikes out to every kid who wants one. Has anyone ran a program with this many kids before? The amount of kids has also lead to lots of fighting and arguing with mechanics and, sadly, bike theft. How has, or would, your organization handle this situation? We do have activities for kids to do while they wait. For example, this year two science teachers come down and do experiements with the kids and we try to get some of them to go to the Patch a Tube station to learn how to patch their own tires.
 
2) How do you keep your kids activties going year around? We would like to keep this going as clearly there is a huge demand that has built up over the years and through our marketing program. Most of our kids are from our neighborhood so having something like this year around gives them options for safe and fun places to be.
 
3) How do you encourage bike safety? Helmets are uncool with our set and although we distribute them, we find them discarded later. Because we are located in a high traffic area where many accidents do occur, we would love to encourage kids to wear helmets.
 
Whew that's a lot! Thank you for listening and for any advice or input!
Ellie Nava-Jones and Judi LoPresti
Getting Kids on Bikes Enthusiasts
 
 
 
--
 

MoBo Bicycle Cooperative
a project of The Village Green Foundation
1415 Knowlton St.
Cincinnati, OH
www.mobobicyclecoop.org

_______________________________________________
Thethinktank mailing list
Thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
To unsubscribe, send a blank email to TheThinkTank-leave@bikecollectives.org
To manage your subscription, plase visit:
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.org




--
------__o     
----_`\<,_
---(_)/  (_)
andrew lynn 518-573-7947