youth job center
Youth Job Center envisions a future where all young people have the support to build a meaningful career and fulfill their potential, and for the last 35 years the agency has worked to make that vision a reality.
Youth Job Center provides work-readiness training, personalized career advising, job placement, and support to over 2,000 youth per year across Evanston, Chicago, and Cook County.
Youth Job Center's support is not just about job placement and a paycheck. For many, YJC's support leads to an increased sense of self-worth, a way to contribute to the community and economy, and the ability to take on challenges that result in continued learning and personal growth.
Youth Job Center knows that it is not enough to simply help youth find a job, we must provide them with the tools needed to be independently secure so that they can continue to overcome obstacles throughout the course of their life.
OPPORTUNITIES
In planning conversations with Youth Job Session staff and clients, we identified the residency as an opportunity to:
Give residents the tools to create music without prior musical training.
Time Management, Communications, Teamwork, Conflict Management, and Professionalism by using a variety of Deep Listening experiences.
Give residents opportunities to experience agency and self efficacy.
Create opportunities for clients to speak the greatest truth of who they are, as a means of seeking meaningful and lasting careers.
Using Deep Listening and mindfulness practices as alternatives to punitive discipline.
QUESTIONS EXPLORED
How does music support the competencies necessary to gain and maintain employment?
How does mindfulness support the process of self reflection and empowerment?
How does creativity support the process of personal growth and career development?
How can we make music with our peers using Deep Listening tactics?
OBJECTIVES
In a series of workshops for Youth Job Center participants, Fifth House Ensemble reinforces Time Management, Communications, Teamwork, Conflict Management, and Professionalism through individual and group activities rooted in Deep Listening practice, and often culminating in a group music composition project. At the intersection of mindfulness and creativity, Deep Listening unlocks a deep awareness of one’s self and forges authentic relationships with others through sound and movement experiences that build trust, vulnerability, responsiveness, and creativity. Many of the activities can be cross-listed in multiple learning goals, as the competencies are developed hand-in-hand which also made for a perfect integration point for Work Readiness Training (WRT) session warm-ups that were led by 5HE artists on a bi-weekly basis.
OUR PROCESS
Based on 5HE’s previous work with Cara Chicago, which supported job readiness skills for adults, this 6-visit (1 hour weekly, virtual) residency includes individual mindfulness rituals that participants can use to center themselves, manage stress, and access their creativity and problem-solving at any time. The residency also includes group improvisation and composition exercises which build a deep sense of community through participation.
In the bi-weekly visits, participants explore existing works by composer Pauline Oliveros, who pioneered Deep Listening practice with the idea that all sounds are musical, and all people are musicians. Her music is created as text scores, which use simple written instructions to encourage listening, movement, and individual/group musical improvisations that result in transformative, participatory music-making, regardless of past musical training.
Fifth House’s Deep Listening curriculum has been shown to develop public speaking, self presentation, and communication skills, a sense of self-efficacy, leadership skills, and the ability to work in a team setting. These skills are directly aligned with the Youth Job Center’s curricular goals, thus the Fifth House residency will further engage and support the core group of learners in their work with the YJC. Exercises are also an excellent diagnostic tool; 5HE collaborates with YJC trainers in debrief sessions after each visit to evaluate participants’ progress and provide additional support.
Residency activities are designed and evaluated collaboratively between 5HE teaching artists, YJC staff/trainers, and participants. Debriefs during and after sessions are opportunities for youth to shape the residency experience iteratively, and observe transformations within themselves and their peers. 5HE also empowers YJC staff to use Deep Listening exercises more broadly in their training programs.
THE IMPACT
The WRT programs and additional summit programs and projects with Youth Job Center have seen marked change in students’ ability to focus, self-regulate, and communicate with their peers. YJC staff has noted that those participating with Fifth House Ensemble programming have also seen increases in teamwork and communication skills with staff and helped youth better prepare for upcoming job interviews.
“You hit it out of the park! Thank you for your wonderful descriptions and enthusiasm.”
THE NUMBERS
Dates: January 25, 2021 - May 31, 2021
Total Number of Visits: 20
Total Participants: 540
Race and Ethnicities Present:
Black: 50%
Hispanic: 30%
White: 20%
Fifth House Ensemble’s educational programs and research initiatives are supported in part by the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, the Albert Pick Jr. Fund, Chamber Music America, the Farny R. Wurlitzer Fund, and by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.