Programs

Outreach creates programs based on schools’ needs

Rather than approaching a school with a set agenda, we find out exactly what resources are needed to help their students succeed and then we go out and find those resources.

• If it’s afterschool programming, we sit down with school leaders and design a schedule of classes – from cooking to dance to computers and more – then we seek volunteers and paid partners who can provide those classes when needed.

• If it’s tutoring, we design the kind of tutoring program that the school wants, whether it’s during the school day, after school hours, or during the summer.

• If it’s school beautification, we seek volunteers to paint, plant, and beautify dreary campuses.

• If it’s a highly specialized need, we may develop a completely new program like Power Ties, which came about as a result of a school’s need to teach 8th graders about career options and job search skills.

Over the years we’ve developed a strong expertise in some specialized programming streams but continue to change and grow based on schools’ changing needs.

The diversity of our programming is matched by the diversity and dedication of our volunteers

Parents, grandparents, college and high school students, business professionals, public servants, artists, and other interested community members volunteer through Outreach in order to help improve public education. A full-time school outreach coordinator develops and coordinates these activities at each school, where they ultimately become woven into the school culture.

Here are just a few of the many programs we coordinate:

Enrichment and Afterschool Programs

Outreach has become known for creating extended learning opportunities that give public school students the kind of enrichment options that help private school students to explore interests and succeed. We raise funds so that we can hire the best artists, musicians, scientists, and professional educators to bring their skills and talents to inspire students. Students may choose from a variety of academic and cultural enrichment classes, from robotics and rocketry, to horticulture and nutrition, plus a myriad of art courses, music, dance, and intramural sports.

Outreach in the LOOP

Outreach will work with the LA Outdoor Outreach Program (LOOP) to help this state agency develop a comprehensive, age-appropriate curriculum of outdoor education and cooperative learning that will benefit students in several Outreach schools. Most of these lessons involve the use of canoes on Bayou St. John, true hand-on learning about our local ecosystems, history, teamwork and safety.

Reading Made Fun

This year New Orleans Outreach will implement extensive literacy interventions in two sister schools, Green and Ashe. Both involve the use of volunteer tutors working one-on-one with targeted students who need a little extra help to get the most out of their reading. Funds from the GPOA Foundation have enabled Green to hire a special tutoring coordinator who, with Outreach’s help, will match volunteer tutors from Tulane University with students in need. Funds from the Target Corporation, through the United Way’s New Orleans Kids Partnership, will enable New Orleans Outreach to help school leaders at Arthur Ashe to utilize a sophisticated software tracking program to make reading fun and track individual students’ progress.

Summer Programs

New Orleans Outreach offers high-quality, 4 to 6 week summer learning opportunities that include academic remediation and enrichment, recreation, sports, career awareness programs, visits to college campuses, and internship opportunities for high school students from our partner schools.

Power Ties

Developed by New Orleans Outreach 15 years ago and offered to the 8th graders of one or two schools each year, the program has now been adapted and implemented it in two high schools. These students will be well prepared to apply for internships and summer jobs, and to build a strong educational foundation to attain their career goals. Program partners include the Jr. League of New Orleans and the Young Leadership Council.

Cooking

Students participating in this enrichment program learn how to create snacks, desserts, and more using healthy, local ingredients. Guest chefs help students prepare food for a showcase and add to the learning experience.

Ethnography

Students discover both world and local cultures by exploring their foodways. Students learn interviewing skills and documentation by interviewing family members to add personal stories to their analysis of food culture and learn web design to publish their work.

Teacher Assistants

The teacher assistant program utilizes volunteers to help reduce the student/teacher ratio in our partner schools’ classes and gives volunteers a chance to check out the teaching profession.

Reading Programs

This program recruits parents, college students, and community volunteers serve as reading tutors in literacy programs at elementary and middle school sites.

Creative Forces

Creative Forces is a youth education theater corps that employs high school students as peer educators through interactive drama, music, poetry and dance performances and workshops. Students have the opportunity to perform at a variety of exciting venues.

Fitness and Nutrition

Students create their own workout routines and menus to improve their physical health and achieve personal fitness goals.