Design Development and Implementation of a Resiliency-Based After-School Program for Sixth Grade Students Through Recreational Activities

Fostering youth development is the responsibility of caring adults who have the opportunity to provide support, opportunities, and services in a safe and enlightening environment. The purpose of the current study was to determine the benefits of a resiliency-based after-school program and to examine the design, development and implementation of recreational activities that were developed to instill resiliency traits in at-risk youth. The after-school program has resiliency-based activities for sixth graders that were facilitated by undergraduate college students at a public middle school in Norfolk, VA. A 40-item questionnaire, the Resiliency Attitudes and Skills Profile (RASP), was used to gather information from the sixth grade students. A pre and post test was administered by the directors and graduate assistants of the in-school and afterschool portions. Internal and external validity analyses and reliability analyses provide support for the RASP as an accurate measure of the resiliency traits. Results did not find evidence for differences between gender, nor did it find evidence for those sixth graders who participated in both the in-school and after-school portions versus those who only participated in the in-school portion. Furthermore, the results did not find significant difference in one resiliency trait in comparison to the other six. The discussion relays findings back to the literature and investigates implications as to why evidence was not found.