Bird Street Community Center
Nature and Purpose
The Bird Street Community Center (BSCC) is a private, non-profit youth
center, which serves the Uphams Corner and Dudley Street areas of North
Dorchester and Roxbury. We serve a diverse population consisting primarily
of Cape Verdeans, African Americans, Latinos, and Haitians. The Center
serves 500 youth annually through two main programs, which are divided
into various components. These two programs are the School Age Child
Care Program, which is a licensed child care program for children ages
5 to 13, and the Youth Program, which is a drop-in program for youth ages
10 to 18. Our facilities include the Teen Center, a gym, a dance
and art room, a computer lab, five classrooms, and staff offices. BSCC
is strongly connected to the other social service organizations in the
community, enabling us to view things from the larger perspective of the
Uphams Corner community, as well as the internal community within the Center.
Tasks
Students placed at BSCC may work
with the School Age Child Care Program and/or the Youth Program. Within
Youth Development, they may also work with one or more of the programs
including the Educational Support Program, the Street Outreach Program
or the Leadership and Recreation Program.
In the School Age Child Care Program,
students would supervise and organize activities for children ages 5 –
13 and function as a Literacy Tutor for the older children in this program
from 2 – 6 pm, Monday through Thursday.
Students primarily interested
in academic work can tutor in the Educational Support Program on Monday
and/or Wednesday. They could assist youth in grades 4 through 9 with
their homework after school from 3:30 – 6 pm. Then, in the evenings
from 6:30 – 8:00pm, each student would be paired with a young person who
wants individualized attention when learning about a certain subject.
The Leadership and Recreation Program
offers a great opportunity to get to know young people in this community.
When working in this program, students may have an opportunity to work
with the Girls’ Program or with the Boys’ Program by assisting in discussion
groups or book clubs, among other things. They could also lead recreational
activities including sports, games, dance, art, drama, and music. Furthermore,
PULSE students could open and monitor the computer lab for youth when it wouldn't be open otherwise.
Students interested in the Leadership and Recreation Program would work Tuesday and Thursday from
4:00 – 8:00 pm.
On Saturdays, the possibilities
for being creative and taking initiative are endless. These include
coaching teams for flag football, basketball, or soccer, assisting on computer
projects, such as leading a group to write the youth newsletter or doing
a family scrapbook, leading gym activities, organizing and supervising
field trips, doing fitness and aerobics, choreographing a dance group,
or leading a poetry slam. This program runs on Saturdays from 12
– 6 pm, and students are asked to come either from 12 – 4 pm or 2 – 6 pm.
Time Requirement
The Center is open Monday through
Saturday. Students will be asked to come to the Center two days a
week for approximately 4 hours each day. This will enable students
to work in different programs, get to know the young people in different
settings, and see how the Center functions as a whole.
Supervision
PULSE students will have a supervisor within the programs in which
they work and will meet with these supervisors for one half-hour each week.
The students will also come together for group supervision with the overall
PULSE supervisors, once every two weeks. At the beginning and end
of the academic year, the group of PULSE students will come together with
Bird Street Community Center staff for orientation and evaluation of the
program.
Supervisor
Dara Concagh – PULSE Program Liason
Address
Bird Street Community Center
500 Columbia Road
Dorchester, MA 02125
Phone: (617) 282-6110
Fax: (617) 282-2507
dconcagh@birdstreet.org
www.birdstreet.org
Council Member
Kara Keating
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