In 1997, a team made up of individuals from Dodge and Jefferson County put together a listing of goals for the community to create an atmosphere for Positive Youth Development. This team recommended that goals be set to:

  • encourage youth to become assets to the community
  • prevent delinquency
  • create a safe environment
  • empower youth
  • adopt Search Institute’s Asset Building Model throughout Dodge and Jefferson counties

    • High Expectations uses the following strategies as the local leader for community youth:

  • Enrich young people’s environments by providing local youth-serving organizations with the capacity to network, organize, and attract funding resources.
  • Stabilize young people’s families by providing parents with comprehensive skill trainings.
  • Engage and build youth’s emotional assets and skills in the community through teachers, parents, leaders, organizations, media, peers, and anyone else who will listen.
  • Empower youth by providing opportunities for them to recognize their abilities, gain new skills,and have an impact on the community.
  • Promote volunteering activities to reduce risk-taking behaviors and prevent juvenile delinquency and improve the life of youth.

    • High Expectations programming:

  • Supports youth through empowerment of youth led activities, prevention education, parent support and community service.
  • Develops and implements job coaching programs with school students.
  • Partners with local youth serving organizations to provide prevention education and healthy opportunities for youth.
  • Supports youth-led and developed, after school mentoring programs.
  • Promotes youth led activities to reduce risk-taking behaviors that lead to juvenile delinquency.

    • Search Institute’s Developmental Asset Model

    This Developmental Asset Model looks at 40 Assets or "Building Blocks" that all youth need to succeed. These building blocks include:

    EXTERNAL ASSETS

  • Support, Empowerment, Boundaries and Expectations, Constructive Use of Time

    • INTERNAL ASSETS

  • Commitment to Learning, Positive Values, Social Competencies, Positive Identity

    • The Search Institute Survey was conducted in Dodge and Jefferson County Schools and revealed dramatic needs in the local youth population.

  • AVERAGE YOUTH = 16.3 of 40 assets (40%)
  • 14% Believe Community Values Youth
  • 21% Have Positive Role Models
  • 17% Participate in Creative Activities
  • 22% Have a Caring School Environment
  • 36% Consider Themselves to be Caring
  • 26% Understood Causes and Effects of their Decisions
  • 34% Know that they Can Make Things Better

    • High Expectations feels that if we can build these assets in youth we can create a better community.


    What are all 40 Assets? - Download the list of all 40 Assets
    Need Spanish? - Download a list of all 40 Assets in Spanish