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January 21, 2021
Your 21st CCLC program can be a magical place that gives a “home” to those high school students who haven’t yet experienced a sense of belonging anywhere else. But how do you find them and convince them to join? How will you keep them engaged and invested so they want to stay? Break the ice and get to know the students in your community with tools from Y4Y’s new Click & Go, Recruiting and Retaining High School Students. To get started, check out the mini lesson for an overview of this important topic.
Now, let’s break it down.
- Where are you going to start, and who’s on your team? The Recruitment and Retention Plan will help you answer these questions and more. You already have more resources at your disposal than you may realize. This tool will help you centralize those resources and streamline thinking.
- What will effective recruitment look like? You can download the podcast, “Assessing High School Student Needs,” for ideas on where to go and what to do. Be sure to take your audience into account using the High School Recruitment Multicultural Sensitivity Checklist.
- My students are on board! What’s next? You want to be sure your program is meeting students where they are. There are many reasons for conducting online surveys with high school students. With Y4Y’s survey tool, you’ll learn how to get more open and honest answers from the teens joining your program about what truly interests them. Then, move on to goal setting with the Individual Student Goal Development Plan tool.
- Wait! Don’t go! There are some amazing stories out there about students becoming so invested in their programs that they stay engaged as adult staff members. Listen to the podcast “Finding Your Why: Youth Talk About Program Participation” for inspiration! Also check out tools such as the Youth Ambassador Action Plan Template for ideas on how to increase your students’ buy-in.
The new Y4Y Click & Go offers additional tools and podcasts to help you navigate the sometimes-tricky business of recruiting and retaining high school students. Don’t let these teens freeze you out of their lives! By getting to know them — getting to know ALL about them — you and your staff have the opportunity to warm the young hearts and minds that need it the most.