State-Journal.com - Nearly $1 M funds youth center

Kentucky State University has received a $900,000 federal grant to open a center for at-risk African American and Hispanic youths by early December.
The center will serve 90 Franklin County children, said Dr. Herman Walston, the KSU professor who wrote the grant.
The project is designed to address unhealthy behaviors in children between 8 and 15 – poor eating, exercise, hygiene and risky sexual activity – and teach them to make better life choices, he said. The goal is to decrease the number of behavioral incidents, and improve academic performance.
“If we can make a difference in one child’s life, then we will have done something,” Walston said.
“But we are hoping to make a difference in many children’s lives so that they can make healthy life choices and become productive, responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to their communities.”
The grant is provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health Services.
Walston said the $900,000 sum will pay for three years of the program, and the university will look for additional funding after that.
The Youth Center for Excellence will be housed at the Chappell Building on campus. KSU will also use the Kings Center in downtown Frankfort as a satellite location for children already attending after school programs there.
One Saturday per month, the children’s parents will be invited to a breakfast where they will have workshops about meal planning, etiquette, financial budgeting, job interview skills and other life skills while their children attend separate workshops.
In the summer, the students will attend a three-week day camp where they will take field trips to career sites and local colleges.
A program director and mentor coaches will staff the center. KSU students also will assist in the center to earn service-learning hours. An advisory board will provide advice and guidance to the program.
The center will partner with other departments on campus and community organizations.
Students will be exposed to careers, and some may shadow professionals on campus or in the community to learn about different jobs and careers.

10.	Posted by trying October 23, 2009
	According to Denial they are all still black even if more than 50% is 'white' genes. Perfect for racial differentiation and segregation. Interesting to see that it supposedly was scaled down to serving Franklin county. Wasn't the original plan to establish a boarding school for at risk male students of color? Some place where kids from all over KY were supposed to get help? Maybe even from places like Michigan? Who knows what was in the grant proposal. If it was just for African-Americans and Hispanics and it was approved as such.... I see law suits coming if that continues. One day, probably not too far off, one poor parent of a white at risk child will sue because the child was not given access to the resources available to a non-white at risk child and because of that the white child was unable to succeed while the non-white peers advanced. Unequal access to resources when everything else but color is equal, well, that is racial discrimination. Period. There is many at risk students in Franklin county (which includes both school systems). 90 African-American and Hispanic students... of how many total? That's the question we should ask. Even for crime statistics (excluding illegal immigration) in this county, what is the real percentage? I doubt very much that the majority of crimes is done by African-Americans and Hispanics. Probably not even in relation to population percentage. Sometimes it would be nice, if the SJ would do more research and dig up more information on statistics..... oh, but wait, nobody wants to touch a race topic, lol.