Educators with immigrant students who could use support over the summer, or even year-round, can reach out to Alliance for Refugee Youth Support & Education (ARYSE), which offers programs serving a variety of needs.
The organization’s flagship program, a summer camp known as PRYSE Academy at the University of Pittsburgh’s Oakland campus, is currently taking referrals. Designed to provide academic, social, and emotional development, the 5-week camp is open to students in grades 6-12.
“The goals of the program are to support students in developing English literacy skills, confidence, and a sense of belonging and community,” said ARYSE Executive Director Jenna Baron.
The camp always seems to make a difference, she added. “Every fall, when the students go back to school, we always receive testimony from teachers that they see a difference in their students. They can just see the confidence, they see the readiness, they see the disposition.”
Participating students begin the camp day with breakfast, ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, and community building. Along with lunch, the second half of the day is devoted to sports and arts activities, including creative workshops led by teaching artists.
Whether they connect through summer camp, or via separate referrals, ARYSE also supports students through several other programs and initiatives, including: an After School Club, a Girls Art & Maker Group, a Post-Secondary Support Group, and a Youth Steering Committee.
Students participating in summer camp or other programs get free bus passes.
The After School Club takes place two days a week at Duquesne University. The program draws mentors from Duquesne’s Center for Migration, Displacement & Community Studies. As with ARYSE’s other programs, “the primary goal is to create a sense of community and to provide students with a space that really feels comfortable for them and feels very culturally affirming,” said Baron.
Both the Girls Art & Maker Group and the Post-Secondary Support Group meet at ARYSE’s Downtown office. The Girls Art & Maker Group is intended not just to support students in making art and visiting the region’s cultural institutions, but in developing friendships and social and emotional skills. The Post-Secondary Support Group works with local colleges, trade schools, and other post-secondary partners to help students from 11th grade through early adulthood find their way in the world beyond high school.
Founded with student volunteers at the University of Pittsburgh in 2013 as a campus summer program for refugee youth, ARYSE became a separate organization in 2017 and established itself as a nonprofit.
With referrals largely from refugee resettlement agencies at its outset, ARYSE’s predecessor “became a trusted resource,” said Baron. Wholly reliant on student volunteers, however, it didn’t have the capacity for the kinds of programming to serve students throughout the school year.
Now, as a resource for schools as well as resettlement agencies, ARYSE serves roughly 170 students from 15 different countries annually and works with 10 school districts.
“What’s very important to us is that we’re seen as a partner with any agency, school district, or individual that’s involved in the lives of young people who are here because of forced displacement,” said Baron.
