Adventure Central: Partners in Positive Youth Development

Adventure Central is a trusted, community-based, positive youth development partnership serving at-risk children and their parents in the west Dayton community for more than 15 years. This nationally recognized program has been at the forefront of positive youth development – providing children and families opportunities to change their lives through building positive well-being, higher academic performance, and less involvement in risky behaviors. Using nature, our high-quality and diverse staff nurtures participants in life-changing activities that strengthen values, build lasting life skills, and empower youth to explore life's possibilities. At Adventure Central, we are unified by our belief that encouraging new experiences, especially in nature, can build life skills and confidence which make children happier, healthier and more productive members of their community. Adventure Central is uniquely qualified to turn these beliefs into action and results through the passion, expertise and resources of its core partners: Five Rivers MetroParks, OSU Extension and 4-H. Youth are engaged throughout the year in a variety of delivery methods to include after-school, day camp, and residential camping experiences – all emphasizing sustained long-term relationships. Special programmatic emphasis is also placed on supporting and developing teens through high quality work, service learning and leadership experiences. Partnerships with other local universities and organizations, especially the University of Dayton, have been a strength of Adventure Central's success. Recently, efforts with our local cradle-to-career organization to form a summer and after-school collaborative have resulted in pilot phases of a common assessment strategy that will be able to provide data and impact across these critical programs in our community. Through this poster presentation, we desire to share an overview of the partnership, program and recent initiatives. Partnerships within Ohio State and Extension as well as with the community and local organizations and institutions will be demonstrated. Pictures, text and impact statements from stakeholders will be utilized to engage the audience.AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Nate Arnett, Educator/Director, The Ohio State University Extension, arnett.67@osu.edu (Corresponding Author); Angela Collie, Program Coordinator, The Ohio State University Extension; Crystal Sheppard, Program Coordinator, The Ohio State University Extension.Adventure Central is a trusted, community-based, positive youth development partnership serving at-risk children and their parents in the west Dayton community for more than 15 years. This nationally recognized program has been at the forefront of positive youth development – providing children and families with opportunities to change their lives through building positive well-being, higher academic performance, and less involvement in risky behaviors. Using nature, our high-quality and diverse staff nurtures participants in life-changing activities that strengthen values, build lasting life skills, and empower youth to explore life's possibilities. Through this poster presentation, we desire to share an overview of the partnership, program and recent initiatives. Partnerships within Ohio State and Extension as well as with the community and local organizations and institutions will be demonstrated