Programs & Services
Youth Development Academy
Through four weeks in July, at-risk youth from under-served middle schools and high schools come to California State University Dominguez Hills where GEAR UP and ShareFest counselors teach them how they can take control of their lives and change the world around them.
They dream big, play hard, learn to relate to one another and realize the enormous impact they can have on their neighborhoods.
Last July, ShareFest hosted 300 students at its second summer Youth Development Academy (YDA). Students participated in sports, theatre, arts, reading, team-building, games, relays, leadership exercises, creative writing and more educational activities that lead them away from the destructive lifestyle that is readily available to them.
The YDA’s curriculum incorporates topics such as health, nutrition, character building, decision-making, self-awareness and leadership.
ShareFest's year-round YDA at Avalon Continuation School in Wilmington uses the same principles in the afternoon program.
Windy Warren, the assistant principal of Banning High School in Wilmington — a school many YDA students are about to start at or already attend — summed up why ShareFest wants to be involved in these students' lives.
She said the majority of her students are subjected to a stereotype that pits them against the idea that no matter what they do or how hard they try, they can't succeed.
“I abhor that because I have seen kids radically changed when they are given a platform to do something good,” Warren said.
ShareFest believes these young leaders are already on the path to doing outstanding things to help their communities, the YDA just begins to illuminate the way.
To read first-hand stories from this year's YDA, visit our blog: here.
