The John Jefferson Youth Empowerment Programs
Youth Programs
We believe that children deserve to be nurtured, supported, and empowered in a safe and fun environment. They can overcome challenges at home and at school if we show them the way. The Empowering Youth Programs provide team-building projects, one-on-one reading and homework assistance, and food, so kids can concentrate on learning - not hunger.
Afterschool Academic Program
Our Afterschool Academic Program is committed to helping children in South Sarasota County. We are a place where children can come in a safe environment for educational assistance. Our Afterschool Academic Program focuses on providing academic and emotional support to help the students believe in themselves and assist them in understanding the material taught in school so that they can excel in their classes.
Students who attend our program receive the structure and academic assistance they need to succeed in school. We work hand in hand with the Sarasota County Board of Education and Sarasota Public Schools by educating and helping students with their homework, school projects, and our daily reading curriculum. Our program helps eliminate many issues at home, improves children’s social skills, and assists them in becoming above-average students in school.
We accomplish this by having currently certified teachers, through the generosity of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and individuals, working part-time to assist the students, staff, and volunteers in helping them achieve their goals. Our ratio for the program is three students to one staff, teacher, or volunteer. All students are provided with laptops to log into their My SCS account to complete online assignments. We also offer one-on-one assistance for our Specialized Varying Exceptionality Students (SVES) with homework and school assignments. We have three state-of-the-art 86” Promethean Smart Boards to assist students in all grade levels with classroom lessons that can carry on from school to the after-school program. Last school year, 2022-2023, out of a total enrollment of 92 students, almost 80% finished the school year above average, and 55% made a GPA increase from the first marking period. 100% of our students were promoted to the next grade level, and 93% also increased their reading level. These results are from the student’s academic records and report cards through our Data Sharing Agreement with the School Board of Sarasota County. This year, we aim to have 90% of our students be above-average students. Our program is every Monday-Friday, 3:30–5:30 pm.
Check out our new Teen Empowerment video
Kid Café
Children can’t focus on learning when they’re hungry. Our Kid Café program provides a nutritious hot meal for about 50 kids each day after school and over the summer months. We also provide snacks packs so they will not go hungry on weekends or when school’s out.
Summer Reading Program
Reading is a lifelong skill that affects every part of a child’s life and is an indicator of future success. Volunteers work with children to improve reading and comprehension skills. The summer reading program is a performance-based incentive program to prevent “summer slip” that happens when kids are out of school.
Teen Empowerment
The Laurel Civic Teen Empowerment Program (TEP) is a proactive prevention program designed to reach and engage our youth. We are dedicated to promoting programs that help empower teens to succeed by becoming lifelong learners, leaders, community role models, productive workers, and self-sufficient citizens. Teen empowerment helps support personal growth through character development.
Growing Strong STEMs
Pine View students volunteer to engage kids from third to eight grade develop a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering, Math for kids from 3rd to 8th grades.