Close Ties Leadership Program

Statement of Program Service Accomplishments

“Spring break college tour-$19,709. We exposed 40 middle school students and 5 chaperones to a four day/three night trip during spring break to visit tuskegee university(tuskegee, al). Florida a&m university (tallahassee, fl), and florida state university(tallahassee, fl). The goal is to expose black boys to colleges outside of their local areas so that they are able to make decisions on what schools they may want to attend based on first hand experience. The trip also included activities such as dolphin cruise, go-kart/arcade visit. Total expense includes lodging (destin, fl). Transportation, food and activities. Social emotional learning workshops-$6,074 we provide weekly hour-long social-emotional learning sessions aligned to our research based curriculum. The sessions cover the following units: identity & self awareness. Self management & advocacy. Responsible decision making, unity & social awareness. Communication & conflict resolution, passion & curiosity, adaptability & resilience, and impact & influence. The social emotional support we provide immediately impacts the students we serve by giving them practical skills and strategies to regulate their emotions resulting in decreased misconduct incidents and increased academic achievement. When surveyed in may 2023.100% of our boys stated sel. Workshops provided helpful regulation strategies. 100% of the teachers at our partner schools stated sel. Programming positively impacted our boys' classroom behavior. 97% of parents reported our boys' improved emotional regulation at home. Alumni college tours-$942 college exposure widens our boys' perspective and allows them to plan proactively to make college a reality. This is evident in our work, as we've maintained a 100% high school graduation rate, compared to less than 75% for black males in the districts we serve. 100% college acceptance rate, and over $11 million in scholarships, including over $30,000 in scholarships earned by our boys in 8th grade.”