Youth + Excellence = Success (YES) Program

Youth +Excellence= Success (YES) was the first program initiative of 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee. It is through YES that 90% of our constituents acquired affiliation. The program helped students to improve academic performance and raise social values. This was accomplished through seminars, retreats, field trips, mentor/mentee relationships and other enriching activities. We established specific partnerships with four schools in the local area, i.e. Ross Elementary, Haynes Middle School, Cora Howe Elementary, and Bradley Elementary in Murfreesboro. Young men enrolled in these schools were recommended for participation by principals and teachers. When students moved on to other schools, it was important that we maintained these relationships. Therefore, the organization had an active presence with students in more than 20 schools. Listed below are the components of the YES program.

1. The 100 Black Men Learning Center
   The 100 Black Men Learning Center operated Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Cora Howe Elementary in East Nashville, serving students ages 8 to 12. The Learning Center is an after-school tutoring program that offers personalized skill development, homework assistance, computer literacy training, social and cultural development activities as well as field trips. Volunteer tutors help the students in the subject(s) that they need help most. The center runs at a 3 to 1 student to tutor ratio, affording each student the face-to-face learning that he needs.
2. The Summer Enrichment Program
   The Summer Enrichment Program is available to students for tutoring and remedial work associated with subjects covered on the Tennessee Comprehensive Achievement Program (TCAP) test. An assessment of each student’s score is made and deficient areas on the test are identified. Each student enrolled in the program spends three hours per day working to improve test-taking skills in the deficient area.
   As part of this quasi-summer school experience, students attend weekly field trips to places of interest throughout Middle Tennessee.
3. Victors of Peace Summer Camp
   Each summer, more than 60 boys, ages 9 to 13, were invited to a week-long stay at the 100 Black Men Victor's of Peace Summer Camp. Hosted at the Tennessee Military Academy in Smyrna, the camp was the lone successor of the Victor's of Peace Program, which began as an anti-violence initiative. The focus of the camp shifted to the development of leadership and social skills by its attendees.

During the week, students engaged in a variety of exercises and seminars designed to impact the way they viewed their roles in their communities. In addition to seminars, students competed in sports activities, planned a camp program and had the option of competing in a poster or essay contest.

The camp was a partnership with the Tennessee National Guard's Counter-Drug Division.