The city of Syracuse’s Say Yes to Education program is planning to work on a more integrated communication strategy, one that will better explain to the community why the program is beneficial to the Syracuse City School District.

Pat Driscoll, director of operations for Syracuse Say Yes, said the biggest change so far in the Say Yes program has been the hiring of Sharon Contreras, the new superintendent for Syracuse city schools. Contreras was hired by the Syracuse school board in March.

‘It’s been very beneficial to have Superintendent Contreras on board to emphasize the framework that Say Yes is all about,’ Driscoll said.

Say Yes to Education Inc. is a national nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the academic performance of students in urban areas. Syracuse adopted the program and reached out to all public schools in the city, providing programs and services to families and children in the area.

Say Yes offers programs and support to the Corcoran, Fowler and Henninger quadrants. Driscoll said Say Yes is getting ready to offer the same support for the Nottingham quadrant.

The Nottingham district would be the fourth and final quadrant in the Say Yes program, Driscoll said.

Say Yes offers programs and support to 22,000 students, and that number will rise to about 26,000 with the addition of the Nottingham quadrant, he said.

This summer, Say Yes saw an increase of 700 students who enrolled in their summer program. Although the organization fell short of its goal to get 3,600 students to sign up, the increase in numbers is still positive, Driscoll said.

Driscoll said roughly 1,800 students participated in the summer program in 2010. This summer, 2,500 students enrolled, he said. Although this is short of the program’s goal, Driscoll said a number of things could have affected enrollment, including family plans for the summer.

Driscoll said students may have also been enrolled in other summer programs in the area.

Driscoll said 305 staff members and 25 volunteers worked at the Say Yes summer program this year, which ran from July 7-28.

Derek Kirch, a junior music industry and classical guitar performance major, worked as one of two music instructors at Porter Elementary School for the Say Yes summer program.

Kirch said a lack of understanding about the summer program in the community could have also played a part in the Say Yes program not reaching its goal of enrolling 3,600 students.

‘I don’t know if people really have great expectations of the program. I’m not sure what people in the community are saying about it,’ he said.

Kirch said in addition to being one of the music instructors, he also taught math and English to the students. He said working at the Say Yes summer program allowed him to gain experience in education, a field he would like to pursue in the future.

‘I took away a lot of education experience,’ Kirch said. ‘I learned how to work with kids, and I learned a lot about working with administration.’

Kirch said he would work at the Say Yes summer program again if he is given the opportunity.

Said Kirch: ‘They really care about the kids, and the kids themselves are fantastic.’

snbouvia@syr.edu

Published on September 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Stephanie: snbouvia@syr.edu | @snbouvia