Enrichment programs 

Our camps run 6 weeks, from June 21-August 14, providing students with fun and enriching programs.

 

Selection Process

 

Participants in Abraham’s Promise’ programs are recommended by their teachers, principals, community, families and friend. They are then interviewed and selected by committee. The life skills training includes time management skills, interview techniques, personal development, appropriate attire, hygiene, etiquette, personal finance. The math skills training includes assessment testing and tutoring.  Students provide current immunization and health records before they begin the program.

There is an alarming 26.5% gap in numbers of students graduating high school in 4 years between financially challenged students and financially stable students. A major cause of this gap is that students who are financially stable can afford, and are attending, academic tutoring programs which help to increase their grades and standardized tests scores. Since standardized test scores are relied upon by college admissions officers, tutoring that increases test scores also helps students gain admission to college. By contrast, financially challenged students cannot afford this extra help, the cost of which ranges from $25-$65 per hour of tutoring, and $200-$520 per month for 8 hours of tutoring, after paying $375 for the assessment test. Without academic tutoring, financially challenged students who are struggling in core subjects, like math, are failing in school and earning low scores on standardized tests. This demoralizing combination is resulting in more financially challenged students dropping out of high school.

 

How we Address this Problem

 

We believe that we can help reduce this gap by providing financially challenged students with the same type and level of academic tutoring in math that financially stable students can afford. We provide 10 hours of math tutoring per week, which includes math problems from past SAT examinations to expose our students to the math that is tested on standardized tests which are relied upon by college admissions officers and scholarship committees. We have our students take pre-tests to determine their math skills. We have them take practice SAT math tests under timed conditions. We have also created an innovative math board game to teach algebra and geometry. This game addresses the need to pair interactive teaching methods with traditional teaching methods to keep youth engaged and keep the learning environment stimulating.

We describe how math is used in biology, chemistry, physics, economics, psychology,  sociology, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, computer programming, communications, sculpture, drawing, and music. We take the students on field trips to math-related venues to so that they can observe real life application of math.

According to a report by the Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention of Obesity in Children and Youth, approximately 9 million American children over 6 years of age are considered obese--that is, they have a body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than the 95th percentile as calculated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Yet most experts believe the 9 million figure is minimal. Rates of obesity also are much higher among some populations and in certain geographic areas. And the prevalence of childhood obesity is growing exponentially. In the past three decades, it has more than doubled in children aged 12-19, and more than tripled in children aged 6-11.

 

How we Address this Problem

 

We address this program by providing physical conditioning and training, basketball and football training 5 days a week.

Nutritional Snacks and Meals

In addition to physical conditioning and training, basketball and football camp, we provide healthy snacks and meals 5 days a week to expose the students to healthy eating and improve their overall health.

Due to budget constraints, funding for music, art, and theatre education has been severely cut or eliminated in the public schools attended by our students. By curtailing or eliminating access to arts education, the students are denied the benefits of arts education, including improved academic performance.

Without arts education, students are deprived of an important opportunity to improve standardized test scores, mathematics, and science grades, discipline, listening skills, memory, school attendance, self-esteem. Arts education also helps reach at risk students. According to an article published in the Psychological Science Journal, “there is a strong link between low self-esteem and aggressive behavior as well as thoughts of aggression in teenagers.” (Article authored by M. Brent Donnellan). Similar studies have shown that teenagers with low self-esteem may act aggressively to feel superior to others and boost feelings of worth. “Teens with low self-esteem are at a higher risk of joining gangs and committing delinquent acts.”

 

How we Address this Problem

 

We provide music, art or theatre education 4 days a week. We have a volunteer staff of artists, including professional musicians, artists, actors and directors who provide arts education to eager students. We assign our students a topic and have them practice presenting the topic with the assistance of our theatre professionals. On the final day of the program, the students give an oral presentation on the topic they were assigned. Arts education is a pivotal part of our program because of the following multiple benefits of arts education to our students:

Arts education has been linked to academic success, including higher SAT test scores. The College Board states that students with four years of study in the arts scored higher on their SATs. SAT scores were 59 points higher on the verbal and 44 points higher on the mathematics portion than students with no course work in the arts. (http://www.collegeboard.com/splash).

 

Arts education also improves school attendance: When students are participating in the arts in the classroom and in extra-curricular activities, they attend school more regularly and are less likely to be tardy, skip classes or leave school early. Involvement in the arts can assist in the development of productive learning relationships and can enable students to experience success on a regular basis. Students are able to demonstrate a high level of social awareness and acquire skills that create within each student an enthusiasm, articulation and confidence in everything they do. Through the arts the student's self-esteem is realized which helps the student with verbal communication, personal interactions with other disciplines, and environments in and out of school.