Empowering our Youth

Power Scholars Academy was developed by Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) in collaboration with YMCA of the USA to address the academic achievement gap facing youth from low-income backgrounds. In the Summer of 2016, Old Colony YMCA partnered with Brockton Public Schools to offer Power Scholars Brockton. The program more than doubled our efforts from the previous year to support youth who fall behind and have limited access to enrichment over the summer.

“Scholars” spent their mornings in a classroom with a Brockton Public Schools teacher and teacher assistant. Afternoons focused on STEM, experiments, crafts, and physical activities. The overall goal of the program was to not only prepare our scholars for the school year by improving their skills in literacy and math, but to also improve their attitude towards school and confidence in the classroom and community. In just 6 weeks, scholars demonstrated an average increase of 2-3 months in both their math and reading levels.