Youth Life REMIX
Katharine Hunt never imagined herself working with teens when she graduated from James Madison University in 2006 with a degree in early childhood education. But a year ago this month, she launched REMIX, a teen program coordinated by the Youth Life Foundation of Richmond.
Now she works at least four nights a week with teens and a host of mentors, many from the University of Richmond.
Youth Life provides one-on-one tutoring and mentoring to low-income children residing in Northside Richmond and neighboring Henrico County. The faith-based nonprofit, founded by UR alumna Heather Goodlett, ’94, has an eight-year relationship with UR’s Bonner Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) through the Bonner Scholars Program and Build It.
In fact, a Bonner Scholar introduced Hunt to Youth Life in 2007. Hunt subsequently accepted a job as a lower-elementary-school teacher of an after-school program at the Youth Life Delmont Learning Center, located in a Section 8 apartment complex.
“The idea of working in the children’s neighborhood really appealed to me,” Hunt said. “I liked the fact I would have the children several years in a row.”
She liked it so much that she moved up with the children, eventually assuming the position of upper-elementary-school teacher in the after-school program. But when the children graduated from elementary school, Hunt found it difficult to say good-bye.
“The kids are like my family,” Hunt said. “For four years I and others worked one night a week with the youth to maintain a relationship, while I continued my work with the younger children. But it wasn’t enough. We were losing some of the teens.”
Hunt got to work. Through a School of Professional and Continuing Studies scholarship program offered for staff of community organizations partnering with the CCE, Hunt attended a grant-writing class at UR’s Institute on Philanthropy. She then wrote several successful grants, including one that funded the start-up of REMIX and another that will provide funds to open a REMIX computer lab.
REMIX opened in March 2013 at Northminster Church in Northside Richmond. During its first year of operation, it has provided 15 teens with one-on-one tutoring and mentoring Mondays and Tuesdays, an opportunity to mentor their younger counterparts on Wednesdays, enrichment activities on Thursdays, and some fun “reward trips,” as Hunt refers to them.
UR volunteers have been involved with REMIX from the beginning as tutors and mentors as well as program leaders of enrichment programs, including French culture, art history, and dance.
“It’s great for me to have the support of college students who are invested in the kids and their education,” Hunt said.
UR volunteers are equally enthusiastic about their experiences working with REMIX and Youth Life’s two elementary-school programs. This semester, 98 UR students volunteer on a weekly basis at one of the three Youth Life programs.
“There’s a great sense of community at Youth Life because the students have grown up together through the program,” said REMIX mentor Savannah McAmis, ’14. “I hear time and again from UR mentors how much they look forward to their time at Youth Life.”
“Youth Life is so invested in the lives of the children it serves,” Tyler Barbarin, ’14, said. “The energy and devotion Ms. Katharine brings to Youth Life definitely rub off on the college students who volunteer. I have learned a lot from my mentee and from Ms. Katharine about the dedication needed to make change and the power of relationships.”
This summer, the CCE’s new Urban Education Fellowship will fund several UR students to intern with the REMIX summer academy.
“Our interns make it possible to open up our summer program to more teens in the community,” Hunt said.
And that makes it possible for more UR students and under-served children to continue learning from Hunt and benefiting from Youth Life’s unique model of civic engagement.
Photo: Left to right, Youth Life students DeShawn Price and Arturion Friend chat with teacher Katharine Hunt outside the Youth Life Delmont Learning Center.