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Latest Review
Reviewed by: nicole15
on 08/12/10:
Mission
Interstages provides opportunities for early adolescent girls in low-income neighborhoods to discover talents, strengthen and develop skills, and heighten self-awareness, setting the stage for a successful transition into young adulthood.
To fulfill this mission, Interstages operates a daily afterschool youth development program for middle school girls in Southeast DC. Three key elements make the Interstages model uniquely effective in engaging our girls:
1) Exclusive focus on early adolescence.
2) Academic personalization.
3) Connecting to history through music and the arts.
Key Facts
Geographic areas served:
Southeast Washington, DC
Target demographics:
Middle school girls (grades 6, 7, and 8) living in Southeast Washington, DC.
Results to date:
1) Launched the Interstages Alumnae initiative for girls who graduate from our program. 8 alumnae are currently enrolled in high school and on track to graduate on time.
2) Over an 8-month period, the Interstages girls showed nearly 2 years’ improvement in math recall.
3) Each year, the Interstages girls set and achieve their own S.M.A.R.T. academic goals.
4) Interstages hosted a youth talent showcase, spotlighting performances by the Interstages girls and youth from 6 partner organizations.
5) The Interstages girls wrote an original rap, titled “We Are Beautiful.” They performed it live, recorded it in a professional studio, and created a music video.
Direct beneficiaries per year: 25
Indirect beneficiaries per year: 100
Obstacles:
Current Goals:
1) Program evaluation: Use new literacy assessment to further develop and measure reading support strategies .Implement and refine our developmental assets measurements tools to capture data on girls’ development of protective factors.
2) Program support: Increase number of committed volunteers providing tutoring, music lessons, and other direct program support.
3) Transition support: Include 7th-graders in activities related to the high school selection process.
4) Sustainability planning: Complete a year-long sustainability planning process (supported by a grant from the Washington Area Women’s Foundation Open Door Capacity Fund).
5) Donor engagement: Secure individual pledges totaling $5,000 in recurring monthly contributions and enhance communications with I-Factor donors.
Your donation of 35 enables us to:
purchase journals for each of our girls to record their feelings, poetry, song lyrics, and personal reflections.
Your donation of 50 enables us to:
take 18 girls on Metrobus for an educational scavenger hunt at the Smithsonian.
Your donation of 175 enables us to:
ensure the safety of our girls by training and certifying two staff members in First Aid and CPR.
Board Members and Affiliation:
Herb Scott, Peyton McCall
Camelia Mazard, Doyle, Barlow & Mazard
Patrick Linehan, Steptoe & Johnson
Eugenie Lewis, Commonwealth Emergency Physicians
Kamila Thigpen, Ogilvie & Mather
Past and Current Funders:
Catalogue for Philanthropy
Commonweal Foundation
DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities
Escheated Estates Fund of DC
ExxonMobil CSJP
Fair Chance (Compassion Capital Fund)
Philip L. Graham Fund
Harman-Cain Family Foundation
Harman Family Foundation
Hitachi Foundation
Horning Family Fund
Humanities Council of Washington, DC
Jacob & Charlotte Lehrman Foundation
MARPAT Foundation
Open Door Capacity Fund (Washington Area Women’s Foundation)
Palmer Foundation
Rainmakers Giving Circle (Washington Area Women’s Foundation)
Ronald McDonald House Charities
Spring Creek Foundation
Hattie Strong Foundation
World Bank Community Connections Fund
Key Staff
Ms. Noel M. Tieszen, Executive Director
Ms. Dionne N. J. Kirby, Deputy Director
Ms. Rayona Young, Teaching Associate