College Pathway

College Pathway Program Continues in 2010

“Life is a process of ongoing challenge. Those who lead lives of boundless challenge realize boundless growth. In a time of tumultuous change, what people need most are the vitality to challenge their circumstances, the wisdom to open the treasure house of knowledge, and to strive ceaselessly to create value.” [Ikeda, Daisaku, For Today and Tomorrow: Daily Encouragement, p.228, 1999]

“What makes education work: we all have our own answers to ‘how to teach’; we all agree that we want to teach, put out information for others, and share the fire of learning.” [Anonymous]

YTA offers an afterschool academic and life skills component that provides homework assistance, creative learning enrichment activities, field trips, and a College Pathway Program for a culturally diverse group of students 7 – 18 years old.

Learning is a lifelong process. How can we teach and assist young person to develop and grow? The YTA academic and life skills components which work in conjunction with teaching tennis can greatly impact the lives of youth. Education and the pursuit of college and career require constant nurturing, and resources to assist students and their families.

YTA can provide youth the opportunity to confront enormous daily challenges and imagine a life with dreams and goals they can accomplish. YTA College Pathway Program promotes the “scholar athlete” model. The development of the “scholar athlete” addresses the importance of our tennis, academic and life skills programs to provide a healthy environment within the community to inspire youth to be responsible individuals, leaders in their communities, and lifelong learners. The year long program has interactive College Pathway Workshops designed with a consistent “college-bound” message. The workshops are customized for different age groups, and we encourage parents and other family members to attend. There are six unique workshops scheduled annually at each of the four YTA afterschool sites: “Goal Setting”, “Improving Study Skills”, “Math Tricks”, “Science Fun”, “Art & Writing”, & “Enter the Reading Zone”. YTA organizes college field trips that include “CAL Day” in April at U.C. Berkeley and “The Annual College Information Day” in October. Additional college information and resources for financial aid are available through our wonderful YTA Resource Library for the older students who are preparing for their entry to college.

The YTA Resource Library Experience--

“We often think that what’s necessary to reach college is having good grades, and it is,” said Loretta Conway, executive director of YTA. “But, this can be a process that is daunting for any young person, and for their parents. The YTA Resource Library has two publications the YTA Resource Guide and the YTA Handbook which describes and simplifies this process through four, distinct pathways that a typical young person will encounter along the way,” Conway said.

Specifically, the YTA College Pathway program identifies these four key areas:

Understanding college preparation and processes
Improving GPAs, examination scores, and improving academic performance
Library resources; expectations for college athletes; college requirements
Obtaining financial support; understanding process for obtaining support

When combined, all of these resources are a perfect ‘pathway’ toward meeting their academic and college entrance goals.

Teaching the YTA way is to keep the students of all ages self-motivated, engaged and competitively challenged. Our goal is to create the right atmosphere for learning through reassurance and encouragement and for the students to enjoy the learning process, experience the satisfaction of mastery and camaraderie through hard work and fun. Above all, we at YTA want to cultivate a youth’s self-esteem, dignity and respect which translate to a well-rounded individual who develops their ability and then puts that ability to use to create the greatest value for themselves and others.