Wayne State University /VAC’s after-school programs exposes young people to distance learning using computers.  This program is important because the after-school hours are the times of day that our young people face the most danger. The WSU program is provided during the school year and during the summer months. WSU will provide programming at safe locations.  WSU will also provide “Enter-tainment” curriculum of involving the young people in activities that promote building self-esteem, drug prevention, violence mediation and gang intervention. This program can be conducted on site or off-site through WSU’s existing partnerships with local schools, Boys & Girls Clubs and local recreation centers.

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One of the main services that the Self-Esteem Camp’s program provides is structured    self-esteem summer mobile programming which does not exist in the City of Detroit. WSU/VAC is the only program that provides a summer mobile program that takes the service to the youth in the City of Detroit and all of metro Detroit area. The two main components of programming are the Self-Esteem Camps program and the Self-Esteem Football Camps & Clinics program.

Our programs can and do reach many neighborhoods and young people who have no summer programming because of the many budget cuts  and site closing for recreational facilities that the tri-cities have experienced. Because of the mobile nature of our programs, we are a tri-cities wide program that facilitates programming almost anywhere. We have always wanted to serve that part of the population that is not being served. We served over 1000 youth per year in the metro Detroit area.

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The Sports & Technology Academy program was developed to keep our young people current in the most up to date skills in technology that can help to make them employable in the work force while exposing them to the Business, Management, Marketing, and Technology side of Sports and Sports Administration while adhering to State and National K -12 education standards.

Program participants will learn how to apply interactive technologies solve real-world problems in the world of Business and Sports utilizing Digital Game-Based Learning, Legos, and other interactive technologies. Areas of focus in terms of technology competency building include Business Systems, Visual Communication and Multimedia,  Robotics, Information Assurance, and Social Informatics. Young people will also learn about careers related to the Business, Management, Marketing, and Technology side of Sports and Sports Administration.  

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 * Training for Recreational Youth Sports Programming *

Year-round youth sport activities are one of the best ways to bring youth and families together. This is the backbone of our program; the idea is to bring the family unit closer together. WSU’s program will train young adults and adults year-round with the optimal approach to ensure that young people have a great youth sports experience.

WSU’s training will share the most up to date information for best practices for coaches and being an administrator of a youth sports program. The skills that are learned in this program can lead to jobs in coaching in youth, elementary school, middle school, high school and the college level. WSU will use this training component to train “Youth Coaches” to facilitate year-round programming. “Youth Coaches” are young and adults that start at the ages of 14 on up.

Programming Topic Area

(including but not limited to)

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This Wayne State University/VAC program was put in place to ensure that all youth have the opportunity to participate in quality youth sports programming. Often times the population of youth with special needs are omitted from participation in sports and recreational activities.

This program will also provide the same academic curriculum for growth for the underserved in the classroom that our other programs provide. They will use the “Lego” curriculum to help improve there math, science and critical thinking skills. Program participants will use computers and Legos to achieve these goals.

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The idea behind this Wayne State University/VAC program Officials Academy was to help with the shortage of officials in the sports of football, basketball, baseball, soccer and goal ball. WSU trains young adults and older adults to work in recreational programming in the metro Detroit area and for the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA). There are currently numerous job opportunities available for employment. These jobs can last a life time, after-work employment, summer employment and post retirement employment.

There are many youth sports programs that need officials for there programming needs. Also young people can use this same program for the volunteer hours that they need to graduate form high school, and at the same time WSU helps to develop a sense of giving back to the community. Young adults and older adults can also work for the MHSAA.  Youth can start to work at the ages of 14 -18 in the “Legacy Program” where these they are partnered with an older official after they have passed the state test for officials. They will be paid 50% of that of a certified official’s wages. However, adults that take the state test and pass can start working any where in the State of Michigan as an official and they will be paid the full amount for officiating.

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