Youth Development Program

A year long youth development program designed to increase self-awareness and encourage academic performance.

THE PURPOSE

Founded in 2004, DOP operated a school-based Youth Development Academy designed to empower girls between the ages of 13-17. The agency was created to enhancement academic programming and provides additional support for difficult to manage students. DOP receives teacher and administrative referrals and engages these students in enhanced programming designed to improve student behavior and life outcomes.

THE MISSION

The mission of the Youth Development Academy is to empower girls by helping them to conceptualize a constructive purpose for their lives based on a set of core principles that assists them in developing their full potential.

Going forward with God

THE VISION

The Youth Development Academy's vision is to develop girls with the self-confidence and commitment to achieve their dreams regardless of their station in life. It is our belief that once girls accept a set of spiritual principles and are properly educated, they will have the ability to appropriately interact with their peers and teachers and are better positioned to accept the revealing of their life's purpose.

THE GOALS

Using core principles, referred to as "Kingdom Principles" our goal is to transform lives through the use of a defined curriculum that addresses the total person, mind, body, and spirit. Through a comprehensive approach, participants learn the importance of appropriate communication, peer interaction, and positive thinking. They emerge with the tools they need to spiritually examine their life's purpose and embrace techniques that allow them to be financially successful.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Youth Development Academy is a year-long youth development program designed to increase self-awareness and encourage academic performance. The program is school-based and targets youth ages 13 -

17, with initial focus on 9 graders. The academy provides a 16-week

curriculum that is enriched with summer programming and special events designed to improve social awareness and behavioral appropriateness. Divided into five programmatic areas, the program improves social graces, develops interpersonal skills, encourages self- determination, promotes personal ethics and valuation, and explores

spirituality.

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

Students are engaged in activities that help them get in touch with their

inner self and start to explore their purpose; their reason for being. Participants are introduced to the power of thought; how words influence actions and are exposed to other behavioral management techniques.

They are taught the importance of controlling one's actions, how to empathize with others, and how to develop inner harmony.

ACTIVITIES

Students participate in field trips and are engage in facilitated group sessions such as "Teen-Talk" where they discuss youth-related issues. Group activities are designed to provide safe environments for self- expression where students share vulnerabilities and disappointments. Participants are exposed to the eventualities of people with varying socio-economic status and participate in service-learning projects. One such opportunity is through the DOP Cares Project that involves students in service-learning activities at the New Image Homeless Shelter. Students distribute donated food and toys during the holiday season.

ACADEMIC ADVANCEMENT

Designed to improve academic performance, participants are required to do academic goal setting, participate in campus visits to local universities (UCLA, Pepperdine) and participate in "Girl Talk" designed to explore the concerns of older girls. DOP raises limited scholarship funds for students and provide gifts to encourage academic excellence. Our formulated curriculum is presented in modules, series, or special topics that range from single 30-minute sessions to several classroom lecture- type sessions that are provided weekly over the course of an entire school semester.