At-Risk Teens From Elko, NV Turn Their Lives Around and Present Business Plan for Service-Learning Project to Las Vegas Board of Directors

LAS VEGAS, May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Students from Communities In Schools of Northeastern Nevada's Fellows Academy program in Elko, NV came to Las Vegas to ask the CIS of Nevada Board of Directors' support for establishing a Youth Development Center (YDC) in Spring Creek, Nevada, a community that is about ten miles outside of Elko.  The group presented the Executive Summary of a business plan they developed with the help of the Fellows Academy director and academy teacher. The Fellows Academy is a youth development program that connects struggling students with the community to provide them with the strategies, life skills training, interpersonal tools and inspiration they need to succeed.

The presentation explained the need for the YDC in as much as the Elko region, like many rural areas, has limited afterschool resources.  The students showed how the center's after-school programming will address these needs by providing a variety of positive venues for youth to spend their afternoon leisure time, including interests such as art, boxing, racquetball, pool, strength training, culinary training, tutoring, career exploration and video games.  The YDC will also assist teens in their community in accessing resources that will help them stay in school and achieve in life, an integral part of the Communities In Schools mission.

"Many of the students that traveled down to Las Vegas to present to our Board have overcome many challenges to turn their lives around and are now on the path to graduation," said Communities In Schools of Northeastern Nevada's Executive Director, Terri Clark. "With the help of the Fellows Academy program, these youth are working to help future generations of students benefit from their success by developing resources in their community that they wished they would have had.  This service-learning project will not only give them the opportunity to give back to their peers, but will also set a legacy in their community that anyone can change and be successful," she added.

About Communities In Schools of Nevada: Communities In Schools surrounds students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Through a school-based coordinator, Communities In Schools connects students and their families to critical community resources, tailored to local needs.  Working in more than 3,200 schools, in the most challenged communities, in 26 states, and the District of Columbia, Communities In Schools serves nearly 1.4 million young people and their families every year. Communities In Schools has become the nation's leading dropout prevention organization, and the only one proven to both decrease dropout rates and increase graduation rates.

SOURCE Communities In Schools of Nevada