THE YESS INSTITUTE
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Mission Statement
In 2001, YESS was founded to empower youth with emotional intelligence and leadership skills through building inclusive learning communities that support students on their road to success so that they can become caring and productive members of their community. Since its inception, YESS has worked within communities to develop practice-based models that meet their needs, supported by data and research. YESS’ philosophy has evolved over the past twenty-two years due to its commitment to being responsive to the needs of the youth and communities it serves, intentionally asking for and integrating feedback from students, families, schools, and other community partners into program implementation.
About This Cause
YESS Institute exists to empower underrepresented youth through the development of social-emotional and leadership skills in addition to providing behavioral health supports, so they can achieve equitable success in their personal, academic, and professional pursuits. YESS’ goal is to provide underserved and under-estimated students with resources and support to remain in school, graduate from high school, and pursue post-secondary success. On average, YESS students are 2.5 times more likely to improve attendance (compared to the grade-level average for the school). For the past four consecutive years, 100% of YESS seniors graduated from high school, and 100% of seniors who applied to a post-secondary institution were accepted. YESS’ School Engagement Program is comprised of three pillars: 1) The YESS Classroom, 2) YESS’ 880-page Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum, Road to Success, and 3) a peer-to-peer mentoring model. The YESS Classroom is a daily class that cultivates an inclusive and accessible community in which students feel supported in reconnecting to positive school culture. Road to Success is a research-based, transformative SEL curriculum centered around the five competencies of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework. The Road to Success curriculum is expertly designed to provide essential SEL skill development for nurturing healthy relationships with self and others; making healthy, informed choices; navigating peer pressure and confrontation; and practicing personal accountability and civic responsibility. The YESS school engagement model combines the Road to Success curriculum with a cross-age peer mentoring model that pairs students with similar “cultural zip-codes”: shared social and cultural experiences that shape personal beliefs; this practice reinforces representation and authenticity. YESS mentees are youth identified by their schools as being at high risk for dropping out, suspension, or expulsion. Our school partners identify and refer students to YESS who show evidence of poor attendance, low academic performance, multiple behavioral incidents, and/or students experiencing significant life challenges. Student mentors and mentees work together one-on-one and in small groups each day throughout the school year to develop SEL and leadership skills through the YESS curriculum, as well as receive and provide academic support through tutoring and group study. By utilizing a peer-to-peer mentoring model, YESS perpetuates positive youth development best practices and encourages daily opportunities for youth to lead and learn from each other. This model also cultivates a leadership pipeline within schools and districts that support students who wish to return to the program in subsequent years. YESS’ programming is research-based. Students who drop out of school struggle to find employment, earn far less than peers who graduate, and are more likely to be arrested. Research shows that the type of SEL that underpins YESS’ dropout intervention programming has both immediate and long-term benefits. Students receiving SEL demonstrate immediate improvements in mental health, social skills, and academic achievement. A 2017 longitudinal meta-analysis determined that up to 18 years later, adults exposed to SEL in school continued to do better on positive social behaviors, attitude, empathy, teamwork, and academics, and evidenced fewer behavioral problems. Several studies conducted on YESS programs in the past have evidenced the immense progress attained by YESS students compared to their non-YESS counterparts: over the course of a single academic year, YESS students improved 33 percentile points in English Language Arts (ELA), and 25 in Math. Non-YESS students improved only 12 percentile points in ELA, and only 1 in Math. YESS serves students in under-resourced communities which are predominantly BIPOC and economically disadvantaged: 92% of YESS students identify as BIPOC and 79% qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. In 2020, Colorado Hispanic and Black students’ graduation rates fell to 74% and 76% respectively, significantly trailing the nearly 87% graduation rate for White students (CDE, 2021). Further, graduation rates at nearly all high schools YESS is located within are below the state average of 81.7% (CDE, 2021). Based on lower graduation rates among BIPOC students, along with long-term socioeconomic challenges people without a diploma face, YESS intentionally provides support and services to the youth who need it most.