WE TEACH URBAN TEENS HOW TO STRATEGIZE TOWARDS A BETTER LIFE
Our intervention helps students to see that their choices both in school and out of school right now affect the quality of their lives later.
We're 13 years old!
2011 – 2024
DETERMINE YOUR DESTINY!
Our mission is to increase academic engagement and self-empowerment in urban youth by leading them to discover and practice the behavioral and emotional skills that successful people employ.
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By leading our students through social experiments and challenges we help them repair damaged faith in self and in society and to restore their agency at the time they need it most.
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Our work empowers students to more effectively transition from middle school to high school so they begin these critical years on a mission to get the knowledge and support they need to succeed.
OUR CURRICULUM ADDRESSES TEEN MINDSETS
By working directly with groups of teens we have developed our powerful Determine Your Destiny curriculum that any caring mentor or teacher anywhere can use to guide disadvantaged young people into strategies to become successful.
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We focus on the middle-school population, young teens taking their first steps towards autonomy. This is a population that begins to look for approval, independence, freedom, popularity, and prosperity. Our goal is to help ensure that the search for these desires becomes not a distraction but an inspiration to build a better future.
Success
Requires Hard Work Over Time
Young people often see greatness but not the effort it takes.
Success
Requires Education
We've found that some young people don't see school as necessary for success.
Success
Requires
Personal Skills
We help students discover the social and emotional skills that may not be a part of their regular school day.
Success
Requires Self-Knowledge
We offer a glimpse of career options and inspiring role models, gently guiding students to set personal goals.
OUR AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Our Citywide Winners' Circle after-school programs use our Determine Your Destiny curriculum. The curriculum can be used by any teachers anywhere to help teens take ownership of their futures.
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Citywide Winners' Circle is the name of our after-school leadership program, which employs our Determie Your Destiny curriculum. Originally, our in-person meetings were limited to 12 students and focused on New Haven middle schools.
With Covid 19 restrictions mandating online meetings, we are now able to expand our geographic reach to include more students. At the same time, the technology enables us to supervise smaller breakout sessions of student "success teams." We are also able to invite outside speakers — who may also volunteer to mentor a student — to join in conversation with our teens, providing inspiring examples of if-I-can-do-it-so-can-you achievement.
The students are able to bond with others like themselves. We find that they gradually internalize the principles we teach and begin to reinforce one another's successes.
Our goal is to expand the use of our curriculum to cities beyond New Haven, ultimately taking it nationwide.
"Something that I've used, that we learned recently, was finding common ground with someone. I did that with my math teacher and he ended up helping me with my upcoming math test."
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— 13-year-old girl
New Haven
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REVIEWS OF OUR PROGRAM
"The most fun thing about class? It depends, because everything we do in the class is basically fun. I would say 'everything' 'cause I like everything."
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— 13-year-old boy
New Haven
"The most important thing I've learned in this class is how to manage time and how to be successful in a certain skill. I've learned how to set goals for myself that are realistic..."
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— 14-year-old girl
New Haven