Gary Moskowitz
GLENDALE -- Janet Buhl wants to have more options for Glendale's
youth, and she just got a big helping hand.
Buhl is the coordinator of Project 17, a youth outreach program in
Glendale that received two substantial grants from the Los Angeles County
Department of Public Social Services this month.
The county will provide $1,234,965 annually for Project 17 for the
next three years. Money will be divided between the Glendale High School
and the Hoover High School clusters to support existing outreach programs
and help start new ones.
The Glendale High cluster will benefit from $676,488 annually; the
Hoover High cluster will get $558,477.
"It's critical to have these intervention possibilities. We want to
give youth options for becoming better adults," Buhl said. "We want
different options for kids in their educational process."
Project 17 is one of 46 projects run through the county's Long Term
Family Self-sufficiency Program, which targets teens in low-income
communities. Project 17 will combine the efforts of the city, the
Glendale Unified School District, Parks, Recreation & Community services
and local organizations such as the Armenian Relief Society, New Horizons
Family Center and the Armenian General Benevolent Union, Buhl said.
One project that will be implemented with Project 17 funds is a free
after-school geometry program. Geometry will be a graduation requirement
starting in 2004, Buhl said.
Robb Courtney, community services administrator of Glendale Parks,
Recreation & Community Services, said Project 17 funds also will go
toward a middle school intramural sports program during lunch hour.
Seventh- and eighth-grade students at Toll and Roosevelt middle
schools will begin participating in intramural flag football, basketball,
volleyball, softball and soccer starting in April, Courtney said.
