PROJECT INTERDEPENDENCE A YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

THIS PROJECT WILL FIELD TEST, EVALUATE, AND REFINE PROTOTYPES DEVELOPED WITH PHASE I FUNDING. FROM THIS PROCESS EACH COMPONENT (I. E. THE CURRICULUM GUIDE, STUDENT WORKBOOK, LEADER MANUAL, AND PAMPHLET FOR LEADERSHIP 2000) WILL BE BROUGHT TO A PRINT-READY STATUS. FIELD TESTING WILL ENSURE THAT CONCEPTS, APPROACHES, AND PRESENTATION DEVELOPED IN PHASE I ARE GOING TO PRODUCE INTENDED RESULTS IN ACTUAL APPLICATIONS. ANY ADAPTATIONS OR MODIFICATIONS INDICATED AS NECESSARY FROM FIELD TEST EVALUATIONS WILL BE INCORPORATED DURING PHASE II. THREE FIELD TEST PILOTS WILL INVOLVE ORGANIZATIONS MOST LIKELY TO HAVE COMMERCIAL INTEREST IN THE PROGRAM. THE FIRST WILL BE A HIGH SCHOOL SETTING WHERE GROWING CONCERN ALREADY EXISTS FOR PROGRAM AVAILABILITY RESULTING FROM THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR SCANS REPORT COMBINED WITH GROWING AWARENESS OF THE NEED TO INCORPORATE THE CONCERNS OF ADA AT THE CURRICULUM LEVEL. THE SECOND WILL BE A MAJOR COMMUNITY-BASED SERVICE ORGANIZATION WHERE THE PROGRAM WILL FILL CURRENT VOIDS IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT WITH HIGH SCHOOL AGED YOUTH WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES. FINALLY, IT WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO ONE OF OUR CORPORATE SPONSOR'S COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROJECTS SPECIFICALLY TO DEVELOP YOUTH LEADERSHIP AND MEET ITS CORPORATE COMMITMENT OF COMMUNITY SERVICE.