Mission Statement
The Mission of the Young Scholars Program is to educate our scholars (students who are underrepresented on college campuses) for eligibility, admission, and success at four-year institutions of higher learning without remediation and to prepare them to be able to enter high-skilled career fields. Our scholars are encouraged to be reflective, independent, resourceful, responsible, and productive citizens, able to obtain future education, pursue high skill employment, to give back to their community, and to be dedicated to becoming the leaders of the 21 st Century.
Description
Young Scholars serves a population of students who dream of a college education, but lack access to information and resources that are often obstacles to college matriculation. Eighty percent (80%) of our youth are first generation college students whose families have pinned their hopes for generational changes on the one child who will make it out of the neighborhood, get an education, and come back to help his/her family and the community. That is a tall order for any 14-17 year old to carry.
Young Scholars (YS) offers its at-promise students guidance for continuing their education, leadership and life skills with the goal of a post secondary education that will not only change the student's life, but change the lives of their families for generations to come. Most importantly, we welcome students and their families to be a part of a larger extended family, the Young Scholars Program, a tremendous community support system.
Young Scholars boasts amazing statistics : 100% of our scholars past the Exit Exam for high school; 100% of our scholars graduate from high school; 100% of our scholars are eligible for admission to college; 100% of our scholars in the last five years matriculate to college; 85% graduate within a four to five year period; 65% go on to Post Graduate school or Professional School. Founded in 1999by Jacqueline Rushing, this college preparatory program believes students from underserved and underrepresented communities who have a strong belief in their academic abilities and are committed to work hard can successfully navigate the waters of college preparation and be eligible for admission to college. The commitment to excellence is reflected in following programs objectives: 1. To promote self-efficacy or a belief in one's academic abilities, while teaching the correlation between education (in determining) and the quality of one's life. 2. To give students a sense of responsibility for their own destiny while developing individualized life plans to help them be successful. 3. To teach life skills as well as college preparation skills. 4. To train and empower parents to be advocates in their child's quest for a college education.
The Young Scholars Program has strong mentoring components: Two (2) for males: Brothers Making A Difference (BMAD) with the motto: It's Okay to BMAD.and What if the Prince Dared 2B KIng? BMAD has been in existence for 5 years; over 45 boys and gone through the program and all were admitted and matriculated to college. BMAD will have its first graduating class from college in May of 2008.
For girls: Women, Intelligent Strong and Empowered WISE). WISE has been in existence for Eight (8) years and over 90 girls have gone through the program, 100% matriculated to college. WISE young women have graduated from college in 2004-2007.
What if the Prince Dared 2King is our new component to get our BOBs (Brothas on the Block) to help them survive and to increase positive behaviors and decrease self-destructive behaviors. Most importantly we are helping them to earn a high school diploma or pass the GED and matriculate to college. We are actively seeking mentors for BMAD, Prince 2B King, and WISE components of our mentoring program. All three programs served high school students. BMAD and WISE are for Junior and Seniors Only! Prince 2B King is for boys ages 14-19.
