FIE Grant: 

     The goals and objectives of Just Think!, a partnership initiative between Western Kentucky University and the Housing Authority of Bowling Green, allow for the development of nationally significant programs designed to improve the quality of education, assist students in meeting State content standards, and to contribute to the achievement of elementary and secondary students as outlined in the requirements for the Fund for the Improvement of Education grant program.  Through the Just Think! initiative, Western Kentucky University faculty, undergraduates, and graduate students will provide education, training, and enrichment to youth and caregivers from eight different ethnic groups (Armenian, African-American, Bosnian, Cambodian, Caucasian, Hispanic, Laotian, and Vietnamese). The Housing Authority of Bowling Green will serve as a clinical setting providing Western Kentucky University faculty and students with opportunities to experience maximum diversity among low-income at-risk youth and their families.  This goal aligns with the FIE commitment to “improve the quality of elementary and secondary education at the state and local levels” (Retrieved on 3/6/05:  http://www.ed.gov/programs/fie/index.html).  Just Think! further addresses FIE purposes by not only helping learners at the Housing Authority of Bowling Green to “meet challenging state academic content standards and student achievement standards,” but because of the valuable experiences for WKU pre-service teachers, Just Think! will also help ensure that education graduates from WKU are better prepared to meet state academic content standards and student achievement standards in future school systems in Kentucky. 

     Specifically, the goals of the Just Think! initiative will allow Western Kentucky University in Partnership with the Housing Authority of Bowling Green to accomplish the following:

1. Increase critical thinking skills and creativity of youth in P-12 and out-of-school youth ages 18-21, thereby improving academic performance and ability to make healthy choices
2. Increase refusal skills of youth in P-12 thereby decreasing involvement with drugs, gangs, and teen pregnancy
3. Develop appropriate and necessary literacy, science and mathematics skills for in- and out-of-school youth so that they have the necessary skills for success in school, at work and in life
4. Increase work-related skills, career awareness, and enrollment in two-year degree programs and four-year college programs by youth and non-traditional students so that they become productive members of the 21^st Century workforce

     Just Think! will directly benefit low-income youth and adults, Western Kentucky University faculty and students, and the community and commonwealth of Kentucky in the following ways:

·        Culturally diverse at-risk youth and their families will be better prepared to be successful at school, at work and in life.

·        WKU faculty and students will be better prepared for professional careers which require the skills and strategies of serving the needs of low-income, culturally diverse youth and adults and the ability to meet those needs successfully.  These careers include early childhood, elementary, middle grades, secondary, business and marketing education, and gifted and talented education; school counseling; and clinical and school psychology. 

·        The community and commonwealth will benefit through youth who are better prepared for school and for work and who are less likely to engage in unwise and unhealthy behaviors, and from WKU graduates who are better prepared to become successful professionals. 

·        Colleges, universities, and public housing agencies throughout the state and nationally would benefit from the research, unique initiatives, and the model being developed that could be replicated across the state or the nation.