Karla Hernandez

Strengths

Students are given the chance to

build social relationships (Safe and
Supportive Environment/Sense of
Belonging)
Students are given variety of
opportunities, such as tutoring.
( Expectancy-Value theory)
Students have a sense of safe and
supportive environment (Safe and
Supportive Environment/Sense of
Belonging)
There is a variety of influence in
participation because the students
feel safe and confident in
answering.( Safe and Supportive
Environment/Sense of Belonging)
Students are given hands on
activities to prepare them in course
subjects (expectancy value theory)

Opportunities

Staff are open to learning new

ideas and new skills (Safe and
Supportive Environment/Sense of
Belonging)
Staff are eager to learn and be
open minded because majority are
volunteers(Safe and Supportive
Environment/Sense of Belonging)
The organization is well known in
the community and has several
opportunities in networking(Safe
and Supportive Environment)
There are several opportunities in
the community events for job
opportunities (Safe and Supportive
Environment/Sense of Belonging)
Close the achievement gap because
there is summer
programs( learning in afterschool

Weaknesses
Students are exposed to a variety
of staff members, which do not
allow them to gain the confidence
with each staff member (factors
that influence participation)
Facility does not have a stable
staff team because they are all
volunteers (factors that influence
participation)
Students seem to be exhausted
from the same curriculum
(fostering initiative)
Students do not have a set of rules
and consequences (fostering
initiative)

Threats
Staff are not as reliable because
they are not paid (factors that
influence participation)
Rely heavily on donors if not the
organization would not have the
enough supplies to keep the
facility going ( fostering initiative)
The families fail to take the
organization serious because there
is no consequences to taking the
child to the program (stage
environment fit theory)
Low attendance of program means
less support ( fostering initiative)

and summer principles)

Two youth development principles I think most align to my observations are the safe and
supportive/sense of belonging theory and the factors that influence participation. First, of
all the location I am doing my field work happens to be in a low income community.
Further, this impacts the students a lot because they tend to rely on having a safe and
supportive environment. The children tend to see many staff members because the facility
is mostly run by volunteers. Therefore, the children tend to not build a strong relationship
with the staff members. As a result, I have learned that for the children to progress in their
academics they must have a safe and supportive environment. The children tend to get
involved in participation as well when they feel safe to answer questions. Thus, the
constant new volunteers tend to scare away the children. I believe that if there was a
yearlong commitment it might create a better environment for the children. However,
several of the volunteers tend to have an open minded perspective and are open to new
ideas. This was amazing to see because the facility looks diverse. In addition, the children
get a sense of belonging.