– YELLS Afterschool Program Parent
“It takes a village to raise a child, and YELLS is like an extended family.”
We’re so blessed to have a community that uplifts our work at YELLS and wraps their arms around our Franklin Gateway neighborhood. The YELLS Family is truly powerful: 33+ partners and 154 volunteers invested over 6,970 hours empowering 102+ youth and hundreds more parents and community members last year.
We’re proud to share the amazing achievements from the 2018-2019 school year, made possible by the hard work and dedication of our youth, parents, staff, volunteers, partners, funders, and an entire community rallying around Franklin Gateway. Here are just a few highlights to celebrate from the 2018-2019 school year:
- 91% of YELLS seniors graduated high school this year!
- 85% of YELLS youth were promoted to the next grade level
- 92% of youth reported high levels of self-efficacy
- 97% of YELLS teens agreed they had made a positive impact in their community
- 95% of parents reported that YELLS is helping their child show more care and kindness
- 86% of parents felt more connected to their community
The true impact of YELLS is best expressed in the words of the families we have the privilege to work with each day. YELLS champion and mother of both an elementary youth in our YELLS Afterschool Program and a teen in our YELLS Community Action Cafe, Ms. Patrice Rogers, shares the following:
Where can I begin? My family was blessed the day YELLS came into our lives. I said this because being a single parent is one of the most hardest things a person can face. But this load becomes lighter when you have a program like YELLS in your corner. I have watched my 9-year-old son come out of his shell. He is no longer that shy little boy. He is confident and quite funny if I do say so myself and I know YELLS played a great big role in that development. I work long and early hours so it’s good to know my son is in good hands getting help with his homework and reading.
I also have a seventeen-year-old that attends the YELLS Community Action Café. She has learned so many things. She has become a great leader even in the home. YELLS have afforded her opportunities that would have otherwise been unattainable by my reach. She has a job and is very confident about her future endeavors and all this is possible because of the YELLS program and their phenomenal staff.
But that is just my kids, I have also benefitted personally from this program with the Achievement Club and being a part of the YELLS committee [Advisory Council] where I get to give my input about the program and what I think it needs more of to improve. Imagine this was with the principals and the big wigs of Marietta City Schools district among others, now tell how great is that. Anyway like I said before YELLS is a blessing and I count my family blessed to be a part of this program.
Summative Evaluation
These wonderful stories of the power of our community and the amazing stats that capture our impact are possible through a partnership with Kennesaw State University’s A.L. Burruss Institute for Public Policy and Resarch. Thanks to our Marietta YELLS 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, we’ve been able to work with an evaluation team to both capture our successes and help us identify areas for growth.
While the above data captures the impact of all three of our programs, our 2018-2019 Summative Evaluation provides even more in-depth analysis of our two daily programs that are a part of our 21st Century Community Learning Center program. We’re proud to share that we achieved 9 out of 10 grant objectives! These objectives area centered around three core goals:
- Improved academic achievement for youth,
- Youth develop the soft skills and positive mindset to thrive in school and career, and
- Increased parent engagement in their child’s education
Together, we’re truly creating a community center of learning, leading, and serving that puts our Franklin Gateway youth at a competitive edge in school, in the community, and in life.
