Empowered Youth Programs

Mandatory Saturday Academy

Concurrent with the academic year, the Saturday Academy is held in the College of Education on the campus of the University of Georgia. The academy includes rotations and individual tutoring. Certified teachers and graduate students serve as instructors, tutors, and advisors each Saturday. The main purpose of the Saturday Academy is to assist Empowered Youth participants in mastering the core competencies in academic courses that serve as pre-requisites for advanced-level academic courses. Our goal is to have each participant post-secondary ready upon high school graduation.

Summer Academy

This one-week academy meets Monday through Friday for five days and concludes with a three-day camping trip. Activities include academics, field trips, tutoring, team-building exercises, problem-solving, communication skills enhancement, decision making, and interaction with special guests and former EYP students who are now in college. Past summer academies have taken place on the UGA campus, as well as in Savannah, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. We are anticipating our next summer academy will take place in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Fall and Spring Intersession

The Fall and Spring Intersessions are components of EYP. Students who fail to make satisfactory progress during the semester, either academically or behaviorally, can be required to participate in the intersession program. Parents can also enroll their students in intersession. During intersession students, complete schoolwork, participate in community service, or other physical work deemed appropriate by the director and parents.

Fall and Spring Exam Lock-Ins

The Fall and Spring Exam Lock-Ins are a key component to Empowered Youth Programs for our High School students. All EYP High School students are required to attend the two-day Lock-In prior to their final exam week each semester. The weekend lock-in is composed of intense study sessions and review sessions with certified teachers and graduate students. The goal of these weekends is to provide our students with focused exam preparation that not only prepares them for their final exams but models effective study techniques and habits for college exams.

Academic Monitoring

In addition to the academic rotations and tutoring, our students are assigned an academic advisor as part of the academic monitoring program. Advisors are either master’s level school counselors in training or teachers from the local school district. This component of the Empowered Youth Programs: Partnerships for Enhancing Postsecondary Outcomes ensures that participants are on track for enrollment in a postsecondary institution regardless of their grade level. Academic advisors are responsible for collecting data such as ACT/PSAT/SAT scores on a yearly basis, school progress reports quarterly, and EYP academic monitoring forms (AMFs). AMFs give teachers the opportunity to provide feedback on the academic and social/behavior performance of program participants. Feedback from the AMFs also helps academic advisors ensure that students are attending after-school tutoring as well as completing special projects and assignments assigned by their teachers that may require more independent work. Data collected become a part of each participant’s academic advisement plan.

Summer Academy

The Summer Academy provides a positive group experience that combines travel with academic and cultural enrichment. Previous Summer Academies have included trips to Sydney, Australia, Washington, D.C., Savannah and Skidaway Island, Georgia, the Tennessee Aquarium, and camping spots in the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia. Careful planning allows for structured activities throughout the course of the Summer Academy and ensures that several personal, social, and academic challenges are directly addressed. Such trips foster the opportunity for students to have definite boundaries in place that go hand-in-hand with high expectations relative to individual and group behavior.

Gentlemen on the Move was first developed in North Carolina by Dr. Deryl Bailey, currently an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia. Initially, this program targeted African American adolescents males in grades 9 through 12 grade. The program has since expanded (Empowered Youth Programs) to include male and female students in grades K-12. The program focuses on providing developmental and comprehensive support for students along with individual and group counseling. In addition to the Saturday Academy, intensive weekend-long (overnight) Exam Lock-Ins for high school participants are held prior to final semester exams, twice a year.

The Robert and Sarah Bradbury Commitment to Excellence Award is presented to students who meet the following criteria:

1. Be a high school senior in good standing and on target for on-time graduation.
2. Have participated in Empowered Youth Programs for two consecutive semesters.
3. Attended a minimum of 90% of the Saturday Academies.
4. Have shown a commitment to their academic and social development.
5. Provide evidence of a well-developed post-secondary plan.

• Clarke County School District
• Georgia Safe Schools Coalition
• GA College 411
• College Board
• SAT Home
• ACT Home

• "From the Ground Up: Gentlemen on the Move" By Dr. Deryl F. Bailey and Dr. Mary Bradbury-Bailey (Upcoming Book)
• Empowered Youth Programs: Partnerships for Enhancing Postsecondary Outcomes of African American Adolescents
• Promoting Achievement for African American Males through Group Work
• Developing and Nurturing Excellence in African-American Male Adolescents
• Project Gentlemen on the Move: A Model for Developing and Nurturing Academic and Social Excellence in African American Male Youth
• EYP Participant Survey Results
• Program Evaluation Data