Today we’d like to introduce you to Simon Hess.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Simon. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Originally founded in 1936 as the Boys’ and Girls’ Camps, Inc. for children from Boston, Crossroads has since grown into a dynamic youth development organization that empowers young people to realize their potential and positively impact the world. We continue to operate on the site of our original Camp Wing in the woods of northwestern Duxbury, engaging youth in outdoor education and leadership development activities in the summer and throughout the school year. We also operate two additional summer camps (in Brewster, MA and Ashby, MA) that feed into our year-round programs.
At Crossroads, we believe that young people can shape their own futures and should not be defined by their social and economic circumstances. Each year, we engage more than 1,000 underserved youth from greater Boston in programming that allows them to experience the power of community while developing the essential skills needed to successfully navigate school and the postsecondary arena. Crossroads nurtures young people as they build the leadership and social-emotional skills required to become economically independent workers, socially engaged citizens, and emotionally connect adults.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Crossroads serves young people who face pervasive, structural obstacles in gaining access to resources and opportunities required to make it to and through college or career training programs to professions that offer the promise of financial security.
In recognition of this context, Crossroads is committing additional staffing and resources to the Postsecondary Success Initiative component of our C5 Leaders program. This will ensure that our 11th and 12th-grade students receive individualized support in creating successful postsecondary plans that include attending a four-year or community college, or participating in a post-secondary program like Year Up, City Year or Americorps.
Early returns with this initiative have been outstanding with data showing progressively higher rates of enrollment in college or postsecondary training for the graduating classes of 2017 and 2018. We are also working to provide our program graduates with tailored support in their postsecondary setting; while gaining access is critical, the ultimate goal is full program completion.
Crossroads’ overall aim is to guide 100% of our young people to success by providing them with access to powerful growth opportunities and the consistent, positive relationships necessary for long-term success.
Crossroads – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Crossroads provides young people with access to opportunities for experiential learning, social-emotional skill development and relationship building with peers and mentors.
Our signature overnight camp sessions range in duration from 14 to 54 days and introduce campers to unique challenges and growth opportunities that can be applied to their home, school and community contexts. Participants become independent and resilient while demonstrating optimism, cooperation, the ability to follow rules and respect for others. Ultimately, our young people come to realize that they are capable of far more than they ever realized.
Crossroads’ programming is designed to focus on a set of four social-emotional skill outcomes that research identifies as important for school and post-secondary success.
These social-emotional skills – critical thinking, relationship building, perseverance, and self-regulation – are identifiable and measurable, span multiple grade levels, and have a meaningful correlation with future success in school, work, and life. Our year-round program for teens, called C5 Leaders, is designed to inspire and provide access to opportunities for youth to pursue personal success, to prepare them for leadership roles in college, work and community, and to motivate them to become role models for others.
We do this by engaging middle and high school students from underserved communities in five years of intensive learning experiences, including year-round leadership development programs, signature summer activities, community service, and preparation for postsecondary education and career pathways. Our program offers out-of-school time experiences that provide regular opportunities for young people to practice critical thinking, perseverance, self-efficacy, teamwork and creativity.
We believe that emphasis on the development of these skills, combined with access to a community rooted in caring relationships, high-quality mentors and a joyful outlook on the future, can be transformative in shaping the life trajectory of a young person. Our programs shatter the narrative that children living in poverty and resource-poor environments are preordained to experience lives defined by a set of adverse social and economic circumstances.
We see clear evidence that our programs prepare young people to navigate challenging contexts and build the skills and agency required to shape their future in powerful ways: 96% of the youth who graduate from C5 Leaders complete high school on-time and are accepted into college, 78% as first-generation students.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Crossroads aspires to ensure that every participant in its programs has access to transformative experiences that provide opportunities for personal growth and skill development and foster a sense of agency about shaping the future.
Supporting young people to develop the skills required for success in school, college, and career demands long-term commitment and investment in year-round programming from the early primary grades through the postsecondary years.
At Crossroads, we recognize that to maximize impact, it is crucial that we: (a) maintain high levels of retention throughout our program; and (b) support our young leaders into the early years of their chosen postsecondary pathway.
We maintain a relentless focus on a set of four student social-emotional skill outcomes that research identifies as important for school and post-secondary success: critical thinking, relationship building, perseverance, and self-regulation.
We regularly monitor student progress and program effectiveness in these areas internally and validate performance externally through a partnership with Boston After School and Beyond (BASB) and National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST).
Contact Info:
- Address: 89 South Street Boston, MA 02111
- Website: www.crossroadsMA.org
- Phone: (617) 650-1286
- Email: simon@crossroadsma.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crossroads4kids/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crossroads4kids
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/crossroads4kids
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/crossroads-for-kids/
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