CYD is proud to present “Where Do We Go from Here?”, a book by our students featuring essays and poems on their dreams for the future and their thoughts on the unrest that dominated the news during the pandemic.
Take a look behind the scenes at CYD! This school year, while our staff and students are masked and keeping safe, CYD has been as busy as ever.
Our students and staff have returned to school in person with a mix of emotions, but mostly joy for us all to be back as a community again. With strict health protocols in place, CYD’s focus now is to rebuild on two levels: to rebuild our community and to rebuild the aspirations of our young people. This year’s theme, “GOING FORWARD,” reflects our dedication to rebuilding.
Virtual movie nights, tours of the White House, and basketball drafts are just some of the creative avenues that CYD advisors have developed to help build relationships with students they may never have met in person. “A fun event opens the door,” says Sebastian Munn. “Then we begin to talk about college and career plans.”
CYD provides college and career services at our partner school, City-As-School, located in the West Village. CAS serves students ages 17-21 in an experiential learning environment. “A typical CAS student is incredibly hopeful, resilient, strong, and creative,” says Carolina Moquete. “The school serves some of the most interesting youth in NYC.”
CYD has had a successful youth workforce training partnership with Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Center for Continuing Education and Workforce Development since 2015. More than 250 young people have completed healthcare certificate training, and 60% have gone on to employment in the medical field. This model offers critical insights as we look to prepare young adults to meet the training and employment challenges of a changed employment landscape post-COVID.
The digital divide separating people with and without internet got a bit narrower last month, when Comprehensive Youth Development (CYD) began distributing hotspots and data plans to students who could not afford enough connectivity to fully engage in remote learning.
CYD asked students what they thought about COVID-19, the shutdown, job loss, the protests after George Floyd’s death, and remote learning. Here is what the top three essayists told us.
“I check in daily with CYD to stay focused. They’ve helped me apply for unemployment and plan best ways to work as soon as it’s possible. Setting deadlines and managing my time has been challenging. But I’m motivated! I still plan to graduate next year and study computer engineering and climate science.”
Even amid the school’s closure, tutoring is active for Manhattan Comprehensive students via videoconference. Ammar has continued to work on math and computer science with his tutor, Adam Aleksa. They have worked out an ingenious, collaborative method where Ammar shares his homework on screen and Aleksa captures it in a screenshot…