Youth Education And Support Services Los Angeles

There are about 40 openings for adults and youths in a 10-week job-training program of the Maravilla Foundation, which also runs a youth employment program and free social services. Employers pay for the training and receive half of it back when a trainee completes the program and is hired for permanent work, said Mary Loya, assistant director of the foundation and manager of the jobs programs. Clients receive assistance with bus passes and money for clothing to help them start their jobs.

Nine-year-old Darrell Beasley and five friends discovered at Inner-City Arts on Thursday that success comes in many forms, even the sound of a pair of weathered workman's boots. Sporting their trademark construction-site shoes, members of the Australian tap-dancing troupe Tap Dogs took time out from a world tour to teach the six Figueroa Street Elementary School students a few new steps. "It's fun," Beasley said afterward. "We want to get their moves. It's cool."

James Burks said he always thought the arts were a terrible thing to waste, particularly when it came to children already shortchanged by public schools that were eliminating arts programs to accommodate shrinking budgets. "What I felt kids needed was an alternative to an academic environment they got six hours a day," said Burks, director of the William Grant Still Art Center in Southwest Los Angeles.

From the walls and rafters, the paintings hung--1,000 self-portraits painted by elementary school students. The exhibit Tuesday was part of Arts Education Awareness Day at Inner-City Arts in downtown Los Angeles. "Art is important to me because I can be bored and not have anything to do, and I could do art," wrote Daniel Saldiver for the collection of the self-portraits, some of which will be made into a book and sent to President Clinton.

Nine-year-old Darrell Beasley and five friends discovered at Inner-City Arts on Thursday that success comes in many forms, even the sound of a pair of weathered workman's boots. Sporting their trademark construction-site shoes, members of the Australian tap-dancing troupe Tap Dogs took time out from a world tour to teach the six Figueroa Street Elementary School students a few new steps. "It's fun," Beasley said afterward. "We want to get their moves. It's cool."

With praise, pizza and paychecks, the Central City Action Committee youth organization recently commended 70 local teen-agers who spent their summer working at local child-care centers, hospitals and nonprofit agencies. The committee placed the low-income teen-agers, ages 14 to 21, at eight work sites for six weeks at $5.47 an hour with funds from the city's Summer Youth Program.

Teen Post Inc. is sponsoring a penny drive to raise funds for its third annual trip to Africa for local youths. The proceeds from the drive, which began earlier this month, will help pay for a two-week tour of Egypt scheduled for July, said Georgia Hunt, director of the South-Central Teen Post. As many as 10 youths from Teen Post's Cultural Education Project will be selected for the trip, Hunt said.

From the walls and rafters, the paintings hung--1,000 self-portraits painted by elementary school students. The exhibit Tuesday was part of Arts Education Awareness Day at Inner-City Arts in downtown Los Angeles. "Art is important to me because I can be bored and not have anything to do, and I could do art," wrote Daniel Saldiver for the collection of the self-portraits, some of which will be made into a book and sent to President Clinton.

At 19, Candace Galloway says she is like most teen-agers she knows: a single parent. "In today's generation, it's kind of hard to find a young woman without a baby," Galloway said while attending a class on teen-age parenting at the Faith United Methodist Church at 1713 W. 108th St. In 1990, more than 24,000 teen-agers became parents in Los Angeles County, according to Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.

For the past few years, Teen Post Inc., which offers after-school and evening activities to more than 500 youths who are at risk of joining gangs, has operated on what officials call a bare-bones annual budget: about $460,000 from the federal government. Now, as the agency's 30th anniversary approaches, organizers hope it will be spared in the budget-cutting frenzy that has gripped Congress. But it has begun casting around for other funding sources just in case.

George Evans stands in back, watching a dozen young artists work in quiet concentration. They have embarked, he says, on an awakening, seamless and immeasurable, as they learn to see the world, paint it--and save themselves from it.

For the past few years, Teen Post Inc., which offers after-school and evening activities to more than 500 youths who are at risk of joining gangs, has operated on what officials call a bare-bones annual budget: about $460,000 from the federal government. Now, as the agency's 30th anniversary approaches, organizers hope it will be spared in the budget-cutting frenzy that has gripped Congress. But it has begun casting around for other funding sources just in case.

Teen Post Inc. is sponsoring a penny drive to raise funds for its third annual trip to Africa for local youths. The proceeds from the drive, which began earlier this month, will help pay for a two-week tour of Egypt scheduled for July, said Georgia Hunt, director of the South-Central Teen Post. As many as 10 youths from Teen Post's Cultural Education Project will be selected for the trip, Hunt said.

What makes you angry? Consultant Floyd McGregor asked three middle-school boys to identify what triggers their anger. Typical answers: "When my mom yells at me." "When someone looks at me the wrong way." "When my sister calls me names." McGregor is helping some of the 3,600 students at Chester W. Nimitz Middle School control aggressive behavior and build self-esteem through "Think First," a children's program written by Judy McBride, a Long Beach Unified School District counselor.

James Burks said he always thought the arts were a terrible thing to waste, particularly when it came to children already shortchanged by public schools that were eliminating arts programs to accommodate shrinking budgets. "What I felt kids needed was an alternative to an academic environment they got six hours a day," said Burks, director of the William Grant Still Art Center in Southwest Los Angeles.

With praise, pizza and paychecks, the Central City Action Committee youth organization recently commended 70 local teen-agers who spent their summer working at local child-care centers, hospitals and nonprofit agencies. The committee placed the low-income teen-agers, ages 14 to 21, at eight work sites for six weeks at $5.47 an hour with funds from the city's Summer Youth Program.

What makes you angry? Consultant Floyd McGregor asked three middle-school boys to identify what triggers their anger. Typical answers: "When my mom yells at me." "When someone looks at me the wrong way." "When my sister calls me names." McGregor is helping some of the 3,600 students at Chester W. Nimitz Middle School control aggressive behavior and build self-esteem through "Think First," a children's program written by Judy McBride, a Long Beach Unified School District counselor.

A new consortium of community groups is focusing on the root causes of gang activity and offering education and job training to local gang members. Operation RUG (Rooting Up Gangs) began last month to offer gang members a job preparation training and placement program. Founder Elmore Richmond, 43, said the consortium will examine the lack of education and opportunities for personal growth, high-crime environments and social and spiritual underdevelopment as the causes of gang activity.

At 19, Candace Galloway says she is like most teen-agers she knows: a single parent. "In today's generation, it's kind of hard to find a young woman without a baby," Galloway said while attending a class on teen-age parenting at the Faith United Methodist Church at 1713 W. 108th St. In 1990, more than 24,000 teen-agers became parents in Los Angeles County, according to Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.

A new consortium of community groups is focusing on the root causes of gang activity and offering education and job training to local gang members. Operation RUG (Rooting Up Gangs) began last month to offer gang members a job preparation training and placement program. Founder Elmore Richmond, 43, said the consortium will examine the lack of education and opportunities for personal growth, high-crime environments and social and spiritual underdevelopment as the causes of gang activity.