ABOUT US

For 20 years, the Gold Crown Foundation has established itself as an expert in youth programming in Colorado. Its programs include youth sports, which features the state’s largest year-round basketball programs for girls and boys.

Recognizing an opportunity to support youth academic and artistic development, GCF created the Enrichment Program in 2003 to provide art and technology programming to disadvantaged youth. Interest and project-based instruction and mentoring is provided for hundreds of middle and high school students throughout West Denver, East Lakewood, and Sheridan Corridor neighborhoods where youth face incredible obstacles to their successful graduation from high school.

Our Community
Our youth are 54% Latino, 24% Caucasian, 10% African-American, 2% Asian and 9% mixed or other races or ethnicities. They typically come from low-income families, as evidenced by the free- and reduced-lunch participation rates (over 60%) at the surrounding neighborhood schools (Deane and Stein elementary, O’Connell and Creighton middle schools and Alameda High School). A recent study by the Colorado Childrens’ Campaign showed substantial gaps in achievement among high-income and low-income middle schools statewide; one reason for the gap may be that low-income families have less access to educational enrichment activities, such as trips to local cultural facilities or computers in their homes.

Our Programs
The GCF Enrichment Program offers a Daytime Art & Technology Program to students from nearby Jefferson County Public Schools and a drop-in after school program, the Computer Clubhouse®, open to all neighborhood youth.

The Daytime Arts Program provides exceptional art and technology instruction for elective credit for 90 middle school students from Creighton Middle School. School administrators and teachers select students who would thrive in an off-site, nontraditional learning environment.

In addition to daytime classes, GCF was awarded licensing for a Computer Clubhouse® after school program in the fall of 2003. The Clubhouse is a free-of-charge, award-winning after school program model developed by the Boston Museum of Science and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory. Monday through Friday, our Clubhouse provides a creative and safe after-school learning environment where over 400 registered members, who participate on a drop-in basis, work with adult mentors to develop skills and build confidence in themselves through art and technology. Youth also have the opportunity to collaborate and learn from youth around the world through the Computer Clubhouse Network, a virtual intranet connecting the more than 100 international Computer Clubhouses. The Computer Clubhouse stresses long-term goals through “Clubhouse to College/Career” (C2C). Activities include field trips to local companies and colleges, job shadow days, internships, and workshops and assistance in college applications and interviewing.