The Save the Youth Program is divided into a three-prong structure consisting of a leadership initiative and two artistic programs that involve music production and hip-hop dance.
The program will be offered to middle school and Hoboken High School students.
The Leadership Development Academy will counsel students in need of a new direction in life, shifting their focus from the negative influences of today's culture while reaffirming their self-esteem.
Workshops will include a music studio where students can record, edit, and produce their own music tracks under the direction of two music industry professionals. There will also be a dance academy where students will be exposed to various forms of hip-hop dance, allowing them a creative avenue in which to express themselves.
Approximately 350 teenagers who are considered to be "at risk" by school counselors and other city social service agencies will be selected to attend the program.
Must agree to counseling
In order to attend the program, students must agree to counseling. If they should not show an improvement in their schoolwork or their overall behavior, they will be removed from the program.
"It's a privilege, not an entitlement," said Health and Human Services Director Carmelo Garcia, who played a large role in securing the funds. "You have to earn your seat, nothing is given to you."
Some of the concerns that have led to the program are illustrated in the 2004-2005 Report Card issued by Hoboken High School.
In the report card, it states that 39 percent, or 247 students, of the school's 642 students were suspended at least once during the school year.
And 2.9 percent, a percentage point higher than the state average, dropped out.
The district is one of the state's Abbott "special needs" districts based on income, education attainment, and other demographic factors of the district's residents.
Got the grants
The program is being run by the city in conjunction with the public High School and Hoboken's Boys and Girls Club, both of which are providing the space for the workshops.
In addition to the Department of Health and Human Services, Mayor David Roberts and Council members Christopher Campos and Ruben Ramos Jr. contributed significantly to the city's efforts to attain the funding, which was lobbied for by the law firm Krivitz and Krivitz.
"This program will be a national highlight," added Garcia. "We will inspire kids, we will change their mindset. We're going to show them that being who you are is what it's all about."
Can Kanye come?
The leadership program will be held by Business Minds Thinking (BMT), a progressive counseling program led by J. saKiya Sandifer, an author and the CEO of We Think, LLC, out of which BMT is based.
Throughout the year, an array of guest speakers, from venture capitalists to professors and musicians, will be invited to explain their journeys to success and show students how they can apply what they learned to their own lives.
According to Sandifer, singer Kanye West, who is a personal friend, might be one of the guest speakers during the year.
"It's going to supplement schoolwork," said Sandifer. "It's designed to get kids to think and make positive changes in their life."
Dancing
The dance academy, which has been underway at the Boys and Girls Club since the second week in September, is offered to students from kindergarten through 12th grade and is held in the facility's Learning Center on Mondays through Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The program is being led by Derrick Ladson, a local dance instructor who, in addition to being a graduate of Hoboken High School where he was part of the drama program, currently attends classes at the Broadway Dance Center and has performed at various institutions throughout New Jersey with the hip-hop dance group Final Attraction.
In late June, Ladson began teaching dance at Hoboken High School and without knowing of the city's grant, approached Garcia, who offered him the position.
"This is a great form of expression for these kids," said Ladson. "It keeps them off the streets and away from all the violence, drugs, and peer pressure."
The Music Studio Academy, which will also be held at Hoboken's Boys and Girls Club, is set to begin in late October and will admit approximately 70 students per session.
The program will conclude with a talent show.
For more information on the program or to request that your son or daughter be entered into one of the curricula, contact the Department of Health and Human Services at (201) 239-6635.
Michael Mullins can be reached at mmullins@hudsonreporter.com
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