Education and Prevention Programs provides educational, recreational, and prevention programs including life skills workshops, tutoring, literacy activities, and recreational programs for youth ages 8-18.

Education and Prevention Programs annually serve over 470 youth. Targeting Uptown, Edgewater, and Rogers Park, this department pulls together many diverse prevention and education activities.

All Stars provides tools to 400 youth, ages 10-14, to support them in building skills to reduce the onset of experimenting with alcohol, tobacco, inhalants, marijuana, and premature sexual activity. Trained youth workers facilitate a fourteen-week educational workshop in classrooms. Four schools and one community-based organization were involved with All Stars this past year.

CircEsteem, a collaborative project with Chicago Youth Circus, takes place on-site twice weekly and on Saturdays. 25 youth, ages 8-18, attend the weekly program for tutoring and learning circus arts. On Saturdays, a beginner and advanced circus arts class is offered and an additional 15 youth attend those sessions. During the week in the first hour, students practice circus skills, including as juggling, ball walking, stilt walking, tumbling, trapeze and clowning. Then they have a healthy snack provided by Whole Foods Market Inc., and receive homework assistance for 1-1/2 hours. So far, the results have been stunning: every kid in the program last year brought up their grades.

Connect Force works with 30 youth, ages 11-18, onsite on a twice-weekly basis. This youth-driven program gives participants the opportunity to explore the creative arts in hip-hop, breakdancing, mural arts, deejaying, and emceeing. Connect Force hosts monthly open mic events and on a regular basis collaborates with other youth groups with similar interests. In addition to the recreational side, Connect Force assists participants with academics and developing life skills.The After-School Program operates at Kilmer Elementary School in Rogers Park for 45 youth in the 3rd to 8th grades after school and during school holidays. Staffed by 3 workers, the program helps students with homework, works on math and reading skills enhancement, and engages them in creative arts and active play. A Parents’ Council actively involves more than 15 parents in program development, developing resources for their children, and attending presentations by experts on parenting topics. Also, Alternatives collaborates with other groups to facilitate a summer day camp for 120 youth.

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