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Youth Connections

"Reconnecting Young People with a Successful Pathway"

Youth Connections provides an opportunity for young people to succeed in school. Our goal is to provide them with a well-rounded education and to help prepare them for a successful future.

The Miami Valley Career Technology is a proud partner in this endeaver.

Read the History Behind Youth Connections here...

Mentor-Teachers
Teachers work closely with students and parents. They track student's academic progress, behavioral status and attendance. They help students prepare employment applications, prepare for the interview process, and work closely with a student's employer. A weekly progress report is prepared to inform the student's home school of his/her status.

Academic Program
Students work through an individualized Student Success Plan tailored to their specific academic and career needs. All academic work is technology-base, relying on computers for both instruction and testing. The curriculum is competency-based and self-paced, allowing the student maximum flexibility.

Target Population
We are targeting students who could be disconnected from school due to non-attendance or an inability to succeed in a regular school setting - Students who are lacking in credits for his/her age group or deficient in the area emphasized in the Ohio Graduation Test, under expulsion for non-violent reasons and are students in grades 8-12.

Referral Process
To enroll, a student's home school district must send in a referral form. An interview will be set up with each eligible candidate. If the student, parents, and staff feel that placement in the program will be beneficial to everyone involved, the student will be enrolled and an individual Student Success Plan will be created.

Youth Connections Awards
The Class of 2008 earned $140,000.00 in college scholarships.

The National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education at The Ohio State University has awarded Youth Connections the “Promising Program” designation.  The Office of Vocational and Adult Education and the U.S. Department of Education sponsored the award.

Youth Connections was selected a recipient of the Leadership for Learning Awards for 2002.  This national award is sponsored by the American Association of School Administrators and is designed to honor programs in education that increase student achievement and fuel learning.  Dr. John Boggess, Superintendent of Miami Valley CTC accepted the award on behalf of Youth Connections.
Youth Connections was one of 100 schools across the nation, out of 12,000 entries, to receive $10,000.00 worth of Samsung equipment.

Youth Connections History
The Montgomery County Commissioners created the Montgomery County Out-of-School Youth Task Force in January 1998. The county commissioners asked the Task Force to develop recommendations on what action the community should take to reclaim and serve the at-risk youth of the Miami Valley.

Educators on the Task Force determined that an alternative kind of public education could serve the needs of those students who leave high school and those students who have not been able to succeed in the traditional educational system.

A team of Miami Valley Career Technology Center & Educational Service Center educators was formed to look at curriculum and funding for an alternative school and to conduct focus groups to determine the students' needs. Their goal is to return these young people to a suitable educational environment where they can gain the necessary skills for the workplace and for life.

The Task Force developed a small, personal setting with a great deal of flexibility to meet the needs of the students and to provide career opportunities that lead to long-term employment..

The Task Force recommendations were followed. With the financial backing of the Montgomery County Commissioners, and the experience of Miami Valley Career Technology Center, "Youth Connections" opened for its first students in the fall of 2000. The dream of many became a reality.

Youth Connections added a program for 8th graders in the fall of 2007.  The program is designed to give those students who are behind the opportunity to get back on track with their classmates and be prepared for a successful high school career.