Education and Youth Development

Encourage student success at home, school and in the community through youth development programming

• Gateway Mountain Center worked with over 40 Sierra High students, using rock climbing and backcountry ski/snowboarding adventure activities to build self-esteem and leadership skills, and their Girls Empowerment program utilized yoga, nutrition, journaling to build teen girls’ self-esteem

• Girls on the Run received core operating support to help finance a dramatic enrollment increase in their programming which enhances self-esteem and personal development of 200+ female adolescents

• Sierra Mountain Soccer Club worked to reduce the amount and severity of juvenile crime in the Truckee/North Tahoe area and build intercultural, intergenerational relationships while serving over 200 at-risk youth by providing a weekly soccer experience under the supervision of law enforcement officers

• Sierra Nevada Journeys and Boys and Girls Club of North Lake Tahoe partnered to offer  “Wondrous Women of Science,”  which provided opportunities for science and leadership to 48 middle school girls

• Adventure Risk Challenge at Sagehen Creek continued its leadership and literacy program for 7 local Hispanic youth who participated in the 40-day backcountry summer program

• Through support from a donor, more than 10 youth serving organizations received small grants to support scholarships for local children in activities ranging from music lessons to drama classes to fees for competitive soccer

Support early literacy skills, school readiness and school success

• Boys and Girls Club of North Lake Tahoe improved school readiness and literacy acquisition for over 40 kindergartners and first graders through one on one mentoring in their Tahoe Reads program

• Odyssey of the Mind curriculum was introduced at Alder Creek Middle School to provide creative problem-solving opportunities and to foster original and divergent thinking among middle school students

Provide parents with information, training and support

• Core operating support to KidZone enabled continuation of their child development and educational programming at the Museum, particularly for underserved families

• Sierra Adoption Services supports children and families from Nevada County through the foster process and into a permanent home setting