GENERATING AN EXPERIENTIAL CURRICULUM FOR AT-RISK YOUTH

The Arthur Project (TAP) builds economic and social mobility for at-risk youth through full-time mentorship, project-based civic engagement, and critical life skills development. TAP is a unique program that hires and equips full-time paid mentors to work exclusively with at-risk middle school youth. TAP leverages the mentors' experience with their mentees to develop an informed curriculum that systematically targets six critical areas shown to be highly influential in determining a youth's ability to be a productive adult. TAP enlisted a Capstone team to create initial curricula and an activity bank. The team conducted interviews with mentorship and education experts and conducted in-depth research in the field of experiential education for youth. Based on their findings, the team generated 150 activities to serve as the foundation for TAP's inaugural cohort. TAP will be able to replicate the approach used for constructing the activities and utilize it as a template for further growth.