Sprockets is a network of many different after-school and summer programs for youth in Saint Paul. It is a collaboration of community organizations (like Youth Farm), the City of Saint Paul, and Saint Paul Public Schools. Sprockets supports the youth of St. Paul to reach their greatest potential by improving the quality, availability, and effectiveness of Out-of-School Time (OST) learning.
As a Program Director here at Youth Farm I get to see many of the network’s cogs in motion. Cogs like numerous professional development opportunities to attend and send staff to, monthly Neighborhood Network Team meetings where I catch-up and collaborate with other program providers in the neighborhood, and the Shared Database so we can answer big questions like “how many youth attend OST programs and who are they? From my perspective it is clear to see how Sprockets is improving the OST environment and how in turn that is improving the lives of young people.
Special thanks to the Sprockets staff team: Jocelyn, Erik, Eyenga, Lisle, and Tom for keeping all of the parts moving.
