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Spark Program Growing Former NCACS Board Member Chris Balme co-founded and now leads Spark, a growing youth empowerment organization based in San Francisco. Spark creates real-world opportunities for middle-school youth to build motivation, self-confidence and engagement through hands-on apprenticeships in workplaces. Inspired by the student-centered approaches often used at alternative schools, Chris and his co-founder Melia Dicker created Spark's apprenticeship-based youth empowerment model in 2004. Each student chooses a profession of interest and is matched with a volunteer Apprentice Teacher in that profession. Through the apprenticeship and regular advisory group meetings, students explore their interests, discover how to create a personal vision of success, and learn how to plan for and communicate this vision. Spark has grown to six locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is preparing to launch programs in other parts of the United States. In September 2008, Spark was chosen by the Draper Richards Foundation as one of four young non-profits around the world with the highest potential for broad social impact. For more information or to get involved, please see www.sparkprogram.org. May 2010 |
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