Before the FCAT, our students needed help. Now, the FCAT is required for promotion and our students are woefully underprepared for the critical thinking content on the FCAT. They need more help than ever. With class size not being reduced to increase the amount of individual attention needed to fill skill gaps, parents and the community must get more involved through mentoring and tutorial programs to help improve the academic performance of our students.

Recreation is an important part of the lives of our students. Recent studies show that over 50% of all adolescents in America are overweight. A constant diet of TV, video games and junk food does little to prepare your child for school. We promote healthy diets and exercise throughout our programs, and come along side existing recreational programs to that have "hooked" students to add the academic component those students need.

To many poor students, gifted with physical talents, dreams of the NBA and NFL are ways out of poverty. Before the real world crushes some of those dreams, we try to build on that motivation and give them a reality check through mentoring from other men and women who have succeded or failed in the area of athletics. We help students set proper goals and prioritize themselves in order to give that dream their best shot, and if they fail, to have a career they can continue in.

The reality is that not all students are going to college. Many are dropping out of school, or have so few credits that they cannot finish a traditional high school. To become contributing members of society, they must develop a marketable skill that is valued in the work force. We help guide those students toward services that can help them gain those skills.

Mentoring can be as little as the presence of a caring male figure in the life of a young man, to a one on one mentoring relationship to help a young man or woman through the toughest years of their life. We do not yet have a formal mentoring program, but we counsel students who are in need of help on a case by case basis.