Dayton Valley Days on September 18 and 19 will be more than a fun family event. The annual street fair will also benefit several local nonprofits that add to the quality of life in the Dayton Valley.

One of those nonprofits is Central Lyon Youth Connections (CLYC), an organization that offers a number of free programs to enhance positive youth development. Director Michele Watkins explained that CLYC includes Project Success, Volunteer Connections, Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws and service learning projects.

Improving School Success:

Project Success is a free prevention program offered at several Lyon County high schools and funded through CLYC and Healthy Communities Coalition (HCC). The goal of Project Success is to increase school success through school-based education, tutoring, prevention and intervention with substance abuse, suicide, hunger, sexual and physical abuse, and teen pregnancy, and support services for students and their families. Last year, Project Success served 368 students at Dayton High, and 229 at Silver Stage High. Many of those students participated in 4 or more of the program’s services, but were counted only once (unduplicated numbers).

One of the most effective programs within Project Success is graduation coaching for students who are in danger of not graduating. At Dayton High, Project Success staff worked with 34 students with one or more F’s between February and June of 2010. Seventy-five percent were able to raise all of their grades to passing and successfully graduated! Most of the other students in the program were also able to improve their grades and went on to take summer classes in order to graduate.

Central Lyon Youth Connections (CLYC) also includes Volunteer Connections, a community-based youth volunteer program for ages 11-18. The youth volunteers have an opportunity to earn high school credit through volunteer work at pre-approved agencies in their towns, and simultaneously find out more about career opportunities and leadership skills. During last school year, 120 students from the Dayton and Silver Springs areas participated in the program.

Preventing Underage Drinking Tragedies:

Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws is also funded through CLYC and HCC, and focuses on strategies to prevent underage drinking. Preventing underage drinking is crucial, especially when considering the fact that underage drinking is directly correlated with vastly increased risks of poor grades and serious accidents. Findings from the 2009 Monitoring the Future survey for the U.S. show that alcohol was used in the past month by 15 percent of 8th graders, 30 percent of 10th graders, and 44 percent of 12th graders.

Central Lyon Youth Connection’s Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws has been commended by Lyon County’s Sheriff and District Attorney for offering free education to business owners and their employees about Nevada alcohol laws, and creating youth and community education and activities and encouraging policy changes that are proven to reduce underage drinking.

For more information about Central Lyon Youth Connections, please call director Michele Watkins at (775) 246-0320 or 246-6240.

Dayton Valley Days Calendar:

To find out more about the great live music, local food specialties, unique parades, lively historical re-enactments and demonstrations, children’s and adults’ games, silent auction, and farmers market, and mass wedding vow renewal at this year’s Dayton Valley Days, please see www.daytonvalleydays.org