Amherst, New York
Overview
Amherst, a first-time 100 Best winning community, is one of the nation’s best places for young people thanks to its special education and volunteer initiatives. The Committees on Preschool Education identify children that have disabilities that interfere with learning, and write Individual Education Plans for each child so they can stay in their current schools. Outside of school, Centerstream, a social recreation program, integrates youth with special needs into a youth center environment with games, cooking, crafts and field trips. Amherst is also supporting the health and safety of its youth with an initiative called Underage Drinking: No Minor problem, which helps enforce underage drinking laws by breaking up parties and keeping parents informed. Amherst also has many opportunities for students to volunteer with programs like Youth Engaged in Service and the Amherst Youth Consortium.
Community Programs
- The Underage Drinking: Not a Minor Problem initiative enforces underage drinking laws by breaking up parties and sending parents letters, which has resulted in fewer underage drinking parties.
- The Committees on Preschool Education identify children that have disabilities that interfere with learning, and write Individual Education Plans for each child so they can remain in school with their normally-developing peers.
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Centerstream is a social recreation program that integrates youth with special needs into a youth center environment with games, cooking crafts and field trips.
- The Youth Board and the Youth Foundation collaborated to raise money to buy a new youth center for the town, which now serves as a site for after-school programs, summer programs and a coffee house for teenagers.
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Youth Engaged in Service (YES)
helps youth become more involved in volunteer projects with 420 youth volunteering time at soup kitchens, Habitat for Humanity and local libraries in 2010.
Youth Voices
Being a student at Sweet Home High School, I can say I have been afforded opportunity in sports, social groups and academic groups that have bettered my experience as a resident and student.
—Nick
The education is phenomenal, I can honestly say that I enjoy going to school. The teachers are always there to help and encourage you to succeed, and the entire staff ensures that it’s a safe environment to learn in.
—Rachel