Building Community Strengths in Montana
COMMUNITY BACKGROUND  
The community of
Miles City/Terry is actually two small rural towns located 30 miles
apart in southeastern Montana. Although the towns are located in two
different counties, the families in the area rely on services in Miles
City, as it is the more populated of the two communities. Miles City
is located in Custer County with a county population of 11,837 people
and Terry is located in Prairie County with a county population of 1,360
people. According to the 1990 Census, the median household income of
Custer County was $28, 067 and Prairie County was $22,343. Both counties
have large portions of their population living in poverty. Nearly 28%
of the population in Custer County and 34.4% in Prairie County live
at or below 150% of the federal poverty level. This New Community site
will focus on enhancing services to youth in the area in the form of
out-of-school time programming and activities. Task forces in both towns,
Miles City Task Force on Youth, and Prairie County Cares, have identified
a need for out-of-school time activities for youth grades K-8. These
communities have been successful in finding some support to start after
school programming but are now working toward expanding these efforts.
Expertise and resources through Extension will be used to enhance the
program activities and accessibility.
PURPOSE
To expand resources
for out-of-school time programming for children and youths grades K-8
in the Miles City/Terry area that will promote the learning of life
skills to enable youth to be productive citizens and future workforce
members, and to bridge the digital divide with youth and adults through
technology education. These goals are being achieved through expanded
out-of-school time including summer programs and transportation for
the wide rural area, technology training for parents highlighting parenting
information, experiential learning with ropes courses, and nutrition
education classes.
PROGRAMS
Expanded
Out-of-School Time
Great strides have been made in expanding the out-of-school
time for the youth of Miles City and Terry. This summer a X week program was instituted for youth who were out of school for the
summer. This was a large and necessary improvement over what was offered
in the past. Additionally, the grant helped to increase access to the
summer programs by providing transportation to the wide rural area the
programs serve. These programs include components of the 4-H curriculum,
as well as experiential learning components such as portable challenge
activities. These activities are headed by youth leaders who have already
gone through "train the trainer" sessions for the program.
The out-of-school time programs include such activities as:
- Field trips to
locally relevant educational venues such as fish hatcheries and historical
sites
- Puppet shows
for local nursing homes
- Daily athletic
and art activities
- Homework assistance
Such quality out-of-school
time for youth in this community supports the CYFAR and MSU Extension
goals of improving the quality and quantity of comprehensive community-based
programs for children, youth, and families at risk.
Nutrition
Education Classes
Nutrition education classes are being offered as part of the national
Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program (FSNEP).The goal of the program
is to help individuals and families develop skills and behaviors leading
to improved nutritional well-being. These classes will cover such topics
as:
- Managing and
budgeting food resources
- Meal planning
and making foods stretch
- Food buying and
low-cost food preparation
- Food safety and
sanitation
Please contact Tara
Andrews for further information on the nutrition education program
in the Miles City/Terry community.
Technology
Training Classes
The goals here are three fold. To train parents/adults on current and
useful technologies such as the Internet, parental controls in the Internet,
and searching techniques while introducing parenting resources to them
via the Web. This information is distributed utilizing various delivery
methods to meet the needs of diverse rural families. Training classes
will also be held for the senior citizens who volunteer in the out-of-school
time programs. This approach provides parents and seniors with valuable
technology skills that they may in turn share with children, as well
as access to a wealth of important parenting techniques and information.
Classes are held at Miles City Community College computer labs affording
participant access to state-of-the-art technologies.
For further information on these classes please contact Tara
Andrews for general program information.
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