Enrollment triples for CYMCA program
Black/Hispanic Achievers participate in volleyball fundraiser
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer

RED BANK - Enrollment for the Community YMCA's Black/Hispanic Achievers Initiative has tripled in its second consecutive year in the Red Bank area.

The program returned to the CYMCA during the 2006-2007 school year with 13 participants after a nine-year hiatus in the area, according to CYMCA Director of Community Outreach Jo Ann Rountree.

Rountree said this year with the addition of a third location in Asbury Park the Black/Hispanic Achievers Initiative has grown to include 42 teens. The other two locations include Red Bank and Long Branch.

"[The kids need to] be hungry to go to school, hungry for that education beyond high school," said Rountree of the participants in the program.

She said the initiative is geared toward seventh-graders through 12-graders and that the program currently includes "a diverse group of teens."

"I think the kids want to go to school. They want to go to college and they just need that extra guidance to help plan and prepare for those choices and they get that through this program," said Rountree.

Although the program is in its second consecutive year locally, the Black/Hispanic Achievers Initiative is a national YMCA program that began in 1967 and now includes 170 active programs.

The program originally was brought to the area in 1992 and ended in 1997.

"The program is governed by a core of volunteers, which include business owners, ministers, professors, high-schoollevel teachers and some of the parents," said Rountree.

Group activities include practicing skills learned in school such as essay writing and other writing skills as well as writing for college applications. She said the teens also participate in community outreach and fundraising events, she said.

The latest event was a fundraiser for the group called "YMCA Black/Hispanic Achievers Volleyball Challenge," which took place April 26 at the YMCA's Family Health and Fitness Center on Maple Avenue in Red Bank.

Fourteen kids from the Red Bank chapter participated in the volleyball game against the Monmouth County Sheriff 's Department "Dream Team."

"The 'Dream Team' encourages students of all ages to stay in school, stay clean [and] make safe smart choices," said Rountree.

She said the kids beat the "Dream Team" two games to one and added the fundraiser, which raised about $500, would be the first of many for the group.

"We do want to make this an annual event so next spring is our second year of doing this," said Rountree of the volleyball challenge. "Everyone had a wonderful time."

The first annual Volleyball Challenge will assist the Black/HispanicAchievers in raising funds to attend the YMCA's Annual Regional Teen Summit this spring in Wilmington, Del. At the summit, the students will participate in college readiness workshops, personal development and will also have the chance to receive college scholarships.

Other plans include having the teens volunteer at a Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Camp where they will stay for four nights, according to Rountree.

"The feedback [from the kids about the program] is they really enjoy when we write essays for scholarship opportunities [and] without this program they would not be aware of all the opportunities out there," said Rountree.

She said she hopes the teens come back and teach others about their successes in pursuing higher education and beyond.