Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey (KCFAA)

1714 E 18th Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
phone: 816-471-6003
website: www.kcfaa.org

Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey's AileyCamps are early intervention programs in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri for the urban core, middle school youth, ages 11-14. The unique summer program provides a platform for prevention and youth development before negative patterns become a consistent behavior. Dance is the primary inspiration for camp activities that build needed life skills.

Qualitative pre- and post- evaluations are administered each year by graduate and post-graduate students at the Dole Human Development Center under the direction of Michael Roberts. The great success of AileyCamp, led KCFAA to develop a second phase to this program, which is called AileyCamp The Group. This program offers an after-camp experience for young people ages 12-18, and encourages camp graduates to continue learning in a year-round program of dance classes, performance opportunities and regional field trips. To ensure we reach the children who most need camp, each AileyCamper receives a full tuition scholarship, as well as uniforms, meals and transportation free of charge.

KCFAA's rigorous evaluation is designed to measure the impact of AileyCamp's curriculum and the positive effects of camp staff on the lives of the youth involved, who are at risk for violence and substance abuse. The evaluation process was developed exclusively for AileyCamp with the Dole Center for Human Development at the University of Kansas. Beginning in the summer of 1999 AileyCampers completed The Children's Hope Scale (Snyder, 1997), the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (Harter, 1988), and the Exposure to Violence Questionnaire. These surveys were given at the beginning and at the conclusion of camp to see how camp works and what can be done to continue to improve AileyCamp.

As would be expected for this subset of inner-city children, descriptive information collected by measures and in focus groups indicated that AileyCampers had witnessed high rates of violence and drug activities in their communities, thus confirming the notion that collectively these campers are at risk for the development of such risk behaviors. At the end of AileyCamp, campers reported a highly significant increase in their skill levels in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, creative writing, and percussion. Over 80% of these campers reported that they would take dance classes again if they were given the opportunity. In the post-camp survey, campers reported a significant increase in their ability to develop and find pathways to achieve goals.

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System was administered to gain a better understanding of campers experience with drugs and alcohol. A four- month follow-up for 1999 and 2000 camp years indicates that campers are not increasing experimentation or regular use of drugs and alcohol as would be expected for adolescents from similar backgrounds. Camp graduates reported a decrease in regular smoking behavior in the preceding month at four-month follow-up when compared with pre-camp levels (5.8% vs. 2.4%).

AileyCamp has also been evaluated five times by Dr. Carol Fineberg and Charles E. Wilson of C.F. Associates, arts and education consultants from New York. Dr. Fineberg is a curriculum specialist and helped with the original design of AileyCamp in 1989. Her evaluations are qualitative and address environment, staff, planning, training, execution, curriculum and scheduling. Dr. Fineberg has helped to strengthen the camp process and experience.

AILEYCAMP
"I will not use the word can't to define my possibilities." - AileyCamp Daily Affirmation

AileyCamp is an innovative summer program designed to serve inner-city children in grades six through eight, ages 11-14. It does not serve as a training ground for professional dancers, but rather uses dance as a vehicle for developing self-esteem, self-discipline, creative expression and critical thinking skills.
Founded by Alvin Ailey and the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey in 1989, AileyCamp targets students with academic, social and domestic challenges, but also welcomes students who have little opportunity to develop their artistic interests. An important aspect of the program's success is in providing positive adult and peer role models, and giving campers an invaluable opportunity to explore their creativity, learn to master their bodies, and strengthen their respect for themselves and others within a supportive framework that gives them an important foundation for the future.

Camp Curriculum
The AileyCamp curriculum includes:
• Daily technique classes in ballet, Horton-based modern dance, jazz and tap
• Personal development classes: goal setting, nutrition, conflict/resolution, career development and self-image
• Creative communications classes: with performance techniques, deepen the students' awareness of their potential for self-expression
AileyCamp The Group is a special follow-up program for campers to reinforce and expand upon the meaningful experience of the summer program.
"The most important moment in a child's education is the 'crystallizing experience' -- the experience that helps a young person focus, engage and deeply connect to something he or she cares about." - Howard Gardner, noted educator