Sammie has been in the YMEN program for 4 years. He is one of the program’s most dedicated participants. YMEN has offered Sammie many opportunities through business and education programs. Sammie has been on about 90% of the YMEN trips and his favorite was South Dakota. The trips have been beneficial for Sammie because he has been able to impact others lives and experience new environments. YMEN has taught Sammie how to keep relationships with people and how to prioritize.

Sammie is currently a part of the After School Matters program on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and is dedicated to two classes. On Tuesdays mentors Sharona Drake and Schilon Alexander try to break through to the students in order to help build a better perspective on life. His Wednesday class is Beast Mode where he works out with instructor Sharona Drake. On Thursdays he is in Music Production with Kareem Manuel where they learn how to make beats, write lyrics, and edit songs.

Sammie is also currently planning a community service project for the YMEN program. His project is for the homeless or families in the community to come as one for the Christmas holiday. Food and presents will be given for free as well as blessings and holiday cheer. This will help Sammie earn service learning hours and a better rank in the YMEN program.

-Authored by Brittany R. (as part of our After School Matters, Tech Class)

Our students have had a chance to learn about image manipulation. Seeing as how we are always in the mood to save money, we use the GNU Image Manipulation Program — otherwise known as the Gimp. For those who aren’t completely up on the Gimp, it’s a free version of Adobe Photoshop-like software. Not Photoshop, but not $125 either. Did I mention that it’s wonderfully free!? Below are a couple of the after images of our students. Enjoy.

I had students take pictures using their smart phones with the pre-determined caption, “It ain’t been the same since the taxes came.” It was one of Brittany’s brain-bursts. She has many of them.

As our days and weeks progress, you should expect more of this — but authored by our apprentices.

One of the things that makes me really happy is to see my young men grow. This probably seems obvious, but the truth is, all of them don’t grow. Some of them stagnate, seeming to get stuck or worse still to regress in their maturity. Others continue to reach forward and make more of themselves (in and for) their communities. Such is the case with Kollin and Derrick. I’m really proud of our guys. They worked to gather speakers around the topic of nonviolence — seeking to be a gang-deterrent. They got two speakers from In My Shoes to come and bless us with their painful testimonies, about lives interrupted by violence. Both Dee and Saleem showed their heart to impact our youth and get them to make good choices. Their stories are framed by the fact and Derrick and Kollin are two of our young people ALREADY making good choices, and seeking to help others do the same. Thanks for your efforts, gentlemen. Thanks for giving me the chance to see you shine. –Marcus