Our Intervention

Connections are at the heart of the HYD-PRC's primary research intervention. The project began in 2002 when a county social services department (Hennepin County Village Social Services, a long time HYD-PRC partner) approached the HYD-PRC to explore how youth development strategies could be used in their work preventing health problems.

The Village and HYD-PRC collaborated on a school-based service learning and health education program. They found an ideal partner in the Nellie Stone Johnson School and the Minneapolis Public School District. Today, the project has expanded to also include Cityview, Hmong International Academy and Lucy Craft Laney public schools in Minneapolis.

Together, the partners agreed to focus on promoting healthy youth development, preventing health risk behaviors and evaluating impacts on student health and learning.

Service Learning
Since 2006-07 the middle school graduating class of 2009 has participated in the Lead Peace Service Learning Program. Created by the Minneapolis Public Schools, this curriculum fuses bullying prevention and service learning components.

Health Education
At Nelllie Stone Johnson School, middle school students also participate in an interactive, skills-building classroom health education program that emphasizes prevention as well as promotion of social and emotional skills.

Parent Involvement
Through home visits, mailings and special events, the partners collaborate to foster parent involvement at Nellie Stone Johnson School. Parents are asked and encouraged to assist with planning and hosting special events.

Research and Evaluation
HYD-PRC's expertise in research contributes a strengths-based evaluation of the Lead Peace program. For the Minneapolis Public School District, the evaluation seeks to understand how the Lead Peace program impacts student learning outcomes. For youth-serving practitioners, including those in public health, the evaluation will help to understand how this youth development programming builds protective factors such as school and community connectedness, and affects health outcomes such as the prevention of violence and early substance use.

A PLUS from the Community
The Lead Peace curriculum is being offered in several Minneapolis Public Schools. The collaborative work between the HYD-PRC, Village Social Services, Cityview and Nellie Stone Johnson School and the school district is different as it includes an additional component: Community involvement.
At Nellie Stone Johnson School, the Nia Imani Youth Center, a locally-based youth organization associated with Kwanzaa Church, is a partner in the Lead Peace Project. Through the Nia Imani staff that work with youth, a genuine connection to the community is established. In the last two years, strong relationships have formed and after-school participation at Nia Imani and other community organizations has increased among Lead Peace students at Nellie Stone Johnson School.

Click here to download a flyer about the Lead Peace Project, or contact
Renee Sieving at 612.626.4527

Visit the PRC's web site:
www.prc.umn.edu

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