This is post 2/5 in a series highlighting students on “The 20-Year Journey” at UrbanPromise. UP's holistic, long-term support of students from Kindergarten to college graduation and beyond is what sets our program apart, and we couldn't empower our students without you. Thank you so much for committing to our students for the long haul!
When six-year-old Steven first walked through the doors of UrbanPromise, he didn't really think he'd stay.
Steven as a camper in 2014
“To be here now... it just feels surprising! I thought UP was going to be a temporary thing in the beginning, like I’d come for one summer," Steven remembers. "I didn’t think I was going to go from being to be a little camper, to, after eight years, being in this spot and actually becoming a StreetLeader myself!"
Sometimes it's not such a bad thing to be wrong, is it?
As we continue to explore "The 20-Year Journey" for UrbanPromise students like Steven, this week we’re excited to introduce you to a very special group of rising ninth graders who have a lot of UrbanPromise experience between them… THIRTY ONE YEARS, to be exact!
Now it's time for these "expert campers" to leave familiar territory behind — they are finally on their way to becoming StreetLeaders, but first they have an important “bridge year” to complete.
These students are launching our brand new “Junior StreetLeader Program”, and we think they’re the perfect ones to bring it to life!
Steven (middle), Jennifer (top), and Alma from our South Boulevard Site
Steven and Jennifer are both eight years in to their "20-Year Journeys" —as two of the original UrbanPromise Charlotte campers, they helped launch UPC back in 2013 as first graders! Alma joined them one year later.
“This is just so crazy, I have wanted to be a StreetLeader ever since I was a little kid!” Alma says.
At UP's South Boulevard site, about 90% of our junior and senior StreetLeaders are former campers like these three. But most of those StreetLeaders started their UP journeys a little later — they first joined camp as fourth or fifth grade students.
UrbanPromise has never had a StreetLeader who started camp as young as Steven, Jennifer, and Alma did!
“It feels surprising, and exciting too," Jennifer says. "Surprising because all these years have already passed, and I’m finally at this time of being what I’ve wanted to be. Exciting because I want to be that one person in a camper’s life that they’ll say ‘I remember this person’. I want to see them grow up!”
“Sometimes I didn’t think I would make it, I didn’t know if I would get through all the struggles," Alma recalls. "But I can’t wait to learn all the campers’ names and learn what they like to do. Especially when you really feel that connection [between campers and StreetLeaders], it is just so fun!”
Jennifer (left, white shirt) and Steven (front, blue shirt) at camp in 2014
UP’S NEW “JUNIOR STREETLEADER PROGRAM"
If you’ve been looking up to UP StreetLeaders since you were a little kid, it’s no surprise that becoming a StreetLeader yourself feels like a milestone!
However, transitioning from the role of a camper to the role of a StreetLeader isn’t always intuitive or easy for students, no matter how many years they've been at UrbanPromise.
This summer UP is launching a new “Junior StreetLeader Program” to help ensure that all rising StreetLeaders adapt and succeed! Students who participate in the Junior StreetLeader Program during their freshman year will have the opportunity to apply for the full StreetLeader Program before they become sophomores.
DJ (left) and Jeremiah from our West Charlotte Site
DJ and Jeremiah are another pair of original campers who will help launch the Junior StreetLeader Program — when the doors opened at UP's West Charlotte Site site back in 2016, these rising freshmen were only fourth graders!
“Being a StreetLeader will be different than what we’re used to as campers,” DJ admits. “We can’t play as much as we used to. I want to be a role model and the Junior StreetLeader Program will help us to practice.”
DJ isn't the only one who thinks the new program is a good idea!
“I am glad they [the UP staff] made the Junior StreetLeader Program, because it’s like practice and helping us get used to it,” says Alma. “Being a StreetLeader is going to be so fun, but stressful some days too. But it’s all going to be worth it hanging out with these kids and making their days better!”
Jennifer knows for sure that she wants to be a StreetLeader, but she understands that the Junior StreetLeader Program might help someone who isn’t quite so certain determine whether or not the job is actually a good fit.
“I think it’s going to help a lot, because it will be like a little experience you get before you really sign up to be a StreetLeader for the next three years. You get to see if it’s what you really, really want to do. Because it’s hard for the kids when a StreetLeader quits.”
Jennifer as a camper in 2014
The single year that these students and their peers will spend as Junior StreetLeaders is a short, but pivotal, stretch of "The 20-Year Journey". For this first generation of UP campers, it certainly feels like a major turning point!
“I just want to let other kids experience the same thing I did when I was little,” says Steven. “I want them to do the fun things that we did. I want to be that one StreetLeader for them who really cares.”
If you’ve been supporting UrbanPromise over the years, THANK YOU for helping to mold Steven, Jennifer, Alma, DJ, and Jeremiah into the leaders they’re ready to become! Their biggest motivation to become strong, caring StreetLeaders is the opportunity that YOU helped provide — experiencing many years of love from older StreetLeaders who have inspired them to pass it on!