Youth with somewhere to go

For last week's assignment I decided to take at the young people of New Paltz. For that I went to the New Paltz Youth Program located on Main Street near Convenient Deli. I talked to the director of the program, Jim Tinger, to get an idea for what the program is about, how it functions, who it functions for, how it is supported so on and so forth. It turns out that the program, although open to any local students from private, public, alternative, or home schools seems to mostly attract younger students from broken homes or students who are unable to afford after school sports or art programs. After talking to Jim I realized that there is much more to look into when it comes to this towns youth. The youth program seems like a wonderful, free, opportunity for young kids to stay out of trouble during the evening hours, but I seemed to uncover a dark side to this youth program. During my interview, Jim explained to me that the program gets a lot of scrutiny for the fact that it seems to entertain kids that seem to sort of wonder around ,cause trouble and don't seem to have much as they are possibly from a tough background or less fortunate financially. The Middle school, Jim mentioned specifically, lacks in support towards the program and many parents seem unaware and uninterested in how the program functions. My story ended up as a general look into the functions of the program and how it's grown recently because I found that there is a totally separate page of news regarding the New Paltz youth and this program that would need a much more in depth research. Honestly, I was thinking about working this as my transition piece, but time is of course an issue.....