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Southwestern Youth Services, Inc. (SWYS) would like to thank the Hollis community for their excellent support. The community demonstrated their involvement in this new youth program in a variety of ways. In August, 2005 the Youth Development Academy Advisory Board was formed and began supporting the program while it was in the planning stages as well as support during operation. The Advisory Board consists of 18 members; 12 remain active at this time. The community also donated $7,283 in cash donations, goods and in-kind donations. Parents volunteered to support various activities by providing supervision to youth attending field trips, and assisting at the center for a total of 140 hours. Two Youth Mentors also assisted with the center operation, volunteering 49 hours. The tremendous assistance received from the community enabled SWYS to enroll 104 students since the academy opened in October of 2005. The academy provided over 800 hours of service, which include being open when school was not in session, unless it was a federal holiday. We opened our doors to the youth in the Hollis community in October of 2005. When school was in session, the Academy dedicated the first hour of operation to academic achievement and life skills development. The remainder of the time students could engage in academic and recreational activities, or individual tutoring. Our tutor began providing services in December of 2005. The results were impressive. We provided 311 sessions of tutoring to 56 students with positive results. Three students were on the Superintendent’s Honor Role, 18 students were on the Principal’s Honor Role, 44 students improved their grades, and two students improved their attendance. With the aid of parent volunteers, students took a field trip to Anadarko to visit two museums; then they went to Celebration Station to have some fun before they had dinner at the Golden Corral in Oklahoma City during Spring Break. The rest of the week the students participated in a variety of activities. Parents also helped during our summer program, which was a great success. Students engaged in a variety of activities; they participated in video games, ping pong tournaments, internet access, movies, various arts & crafts and swimming. Students also received academic enrichment during the summer to help them in subjects where they needed to improve. In addition to the academic development, students received life skills education from our staff and safety training from the American Red Cross. Students and parent volunteers went on a field trip to Oklahoma City where they visited the Omni-Plex and Frontier City, in addition to having dinner at the Golden Corral. Many of the activities would not have been possible if it were not for the help from the community. Thank you very much. Southwestern Youth Services is located at 107 W. Broadway for the Youth Development Academy in Hollis. Services are available to all youth enrolled in the program; all children between ages 6 through 17 are eligible to participate in the program. If you have any questions, please contact Tony at (580) 688-2250 or (580) 482-2809. Southwestern Youth Services, Inc. is a nonprofit community-based Youth Service agency primarily funded by third party contracts with the Office of Juvenile Affairs. Community support for SWYS comes as contributions from United Way, local churches, businesses, civic organizations, clubs and private organizations. The agency is governed by a local board of directors that consists of citizens concerned with the welfare of children in Jackson, Harmon, Greer, and Kiowa counties. Services are provided to youth and their families without regard to race, sex, handicap or national origin. In 1987, Richard and Dorothy Maffry opened the Safehouse for Children. This facility provided 8 emergency shelter beds for Jackson, Harmon, Kiowa and Greer Counties. In 1992, a state contract was obtained, and the services were expanded to include community-based programs in Jackson & Harmon Counties. |
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December 2006 Southwestern Youth Services Youth Development Academy Thanks the Hollis Community Youth Development Academy Youth wins National Track Meet Pennsylvania |
