New Possibilities Youth Program

Being young in Selma and the surrounding rural areas of Alabama is not easy. Many of our youth begin life with the odds stacked against them, including:

• 60-80% of children live in poverty.
• The average Selma High School ACT score is 13 out of a possible 36. The average score needed for college admission is 20.8.
• Fewer than 5% of students are math proficient, and only 15%-19% of boys and 35%-39% of girls are reading proficient.

Yet, the robotics club is one of the fastest growing activities, students in the robotics program at R.B. Hudson Middle School were winners in a national competition, and student interest in the 5-year program between Selma High and Wallace Community College is at an all-time high. The potential to grow and thrive is clearly alive and well!

Developing New Possibilities for Youth in the Deep South

Our New Possibilities Youth Program (NPYP) is designed to build upon that potential to grow and thrive with learning centers serving Selma and rural communities throughout the Deep South. With New Possibilities, we provide afterschool and summer enrichment programs alongside G.E.D. assistance. To our youth, these programs represent a safe place to be exposed to new things, leading to self-discovery and self-confidence. In the rural areas, our afterschool homework and tutoring programs are the only such academic-based afterschool or summer programs available to young people of any age. We are proud to say they are an effective option. Our elementary school students in the rural programs typically advance one full grade level in mathematics after participating in the NPYP summer camp.

As we seek to turn our services into solutions, we believe there is no greater goal than showing our children new possibilities outside the lives they’ve known and helping them build the academic skills they’ll need to achieve these possibilities. We will continue changing the course of our community’s future, one child at a time.