The roots of Saying Yes

The above video is a precursor to the summer work Syracuse City School District has completed this summer. George Weiss has brought SAY YES TO EDUCATION to the city of Syracuse and this initiative is the first whole-district adoption. His commitment is to any student who chooses educational success in the metropolitan area to receive his organization's financial assistance to pay for college.

Yesterday, 130 college counselors and six elementary schools completed the first summer camp program for over 600 elementary school students. Each day, campers were given morning instruction to fine tune literacy and mathematical skills and in the afternoon, each was offered enrichment classes to introduce skills to round out a holistic individual: arts, sports, music, community involvement, etc. Field trips were a weekly occurrence, as well, where learning, fun and safety were emphasized.

The program I assisted had 24 counselors and over 120 campers. We united yesterday to culminate our summer work and I post this video as a reminder about what the intentions at its core really are. Moving a volcano is difficult work, indeed, but progress can be made one idea at a time.