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History
OneCity wanted to make urban youth education a key priority in Cincinnati
because one in three children in Cincinnati live in poverty and research has
shown that education and healthy adult relationships can help to break this
cycle.
Most churches currently have created their own youth tutoring or mentoring
programs, so there was plenty of existing energy and commitment toward
helping kids in Cincinnati.
OneCity worked with Crossroads Community Church to look for best practices
in curriculum and programming.
There are many strong after-school and recreational programs for youth in
Cincinnati. OneCity wanted to focus on the education and strong, lasting
relationships and so looked toward developing exceptional programming in
one-on-one tutoring and a focus on math and literacy.
Discussions and research pointed to WhizKids, a program based in Denver that
had been widely acclaimed at the state and national level for improving test
scores. The WhizKids program in Denver leveraged an army of volunteers from
surrounding churches and provided a strong example of how to provide both
educational and spiritual development without infringing upon the separation
of church and state requirements for public schools.
OneCity - in conjunction with Crossroads Community Church - decided to
replicate the WhizKids model here in Cincinnati. There are now WhizKids
programs in several churches and schools around Cincinnati.
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