Leaders of the Future

The Leaders of the Future program has five components with associated activities: 1. Entrepreneurship training will be offered through the National Foundation for Entrepreneurship (NFTE) model so youth can “build a pathway to prosperity”. Following the NFTE model, staff will guide participants through hands-on, interactive learning experiences in which they will engage in all the functions necessary to create a viable business, from conducting a needs analysis, to creating a business plan, to securing investment capital. By the end of the program year, participants will have a thorough understanding of the creation and maintenance of a small business. The participants will use the Buena Vista Garden as a “business lab” since there are so many entrepreneurial opportunities associated with it. For example, participants may choose to tend to their own plot and sell the harvest, or help garden members create a business plan to sell their crops at the local farmers market. 2. Drug resistance and socialization through the Life Skills ® Training (LST), which “aims to modify drug-related knowledge, attitudes, and norms; teach skills for resisting social influences that encourage drug use; and foster the development of general personal and social skills”. To implement this component to its fullest capacity, staff will implement Life Skills ® curriculum. As described in their literature: “A combination of teaching techniques is used to teach substance use prevention skills to students, including group discussion, demonstration, modeling, behavioral rehearsal, feedback and reinforcement, and behavioral "homework" assignments for out-of-class practice.” “In addition to teaching skills for the enhancement of personal and social competence, the LST program teaches students specific skills related to resisting pressures for substance use, including how to apply assertiveness skills in situations in which they might experience pressure to smoke, drink, or use drugs. Unlike traditional prevention approaches, only minimal information concerning the long-term health consequences of drug use is provided. Instead, information hypothesized to be more relevant to prevention is given, such as information concerning the immediate negative consequences of drug use, the addictive nature of certain substances, the decreasing social acceptability of use, and the actual prevalence rates among adults and adolescents.” 3. Educational enhancement, including technology education, and based on the Reciprocal Teaching system will “facilitate a group effort between teachers and students by bringing meaning to segments of text”. As stated in their literature: “In order to promote understanding, RT is an instructional activity that utilizes dialogue between teachers and students while segments of text are studied. The teacher and students take turns in assuming the role of instructor in leading the two-way dialogue. Four strategies are used to structure the discussion, including: (1) summarizing, which compels students to determine the most important information in the text; (2) question generating, which reinforces the summarizing strategy and increases comprehension; (3) clarifying, which is especially important for students with a history of difficulty with comprehension; and (4) predicting, which increases students’ depth of understanding by hypothesizing what the author will discuss next in the text. These strategies are modeled by the teacher and then practiced by the students in cooperative groups. While the students engage in discussions aimed at constructing meaning to the text, the teacher provides the support necessary for students to learn how to implement RT strategies.” 4. Conflict Resolution/Anti-Bullying Education through a curriculum devised by Creative Response to Conflict (CRC) will give participants the skills they need to avoid violent conflict and promote peace. The themes of this system are: communication; cooperation; affirmation; conflict resolution principles; creative problem-solving skills; bias awareness; mediation; and creative response to bullying. 5. Cultural enrichment will offer youth an opportunity to express themselves positively and appropriately through music. Cultural enrichment will be offered in conjunction Orgullo Boriqueño, a Latino folkloric dance group; Ren Dao Wellness Center, which offers self expression through movement; Milton Román who teaches compassion through cultural arts; and several local visual artists, including sculptors, painters, and muralists.