Jones Youth Roundball Instructional Camp, Inc.

1. The purpose of the Jones Youth Roundball Instructional Camp is to identify at-risk youth between the ages of 10 to 15 that are performing below standard and have lost the desire to excel in school. JYRIC's use of sports as a motivator hopes to rekindle the desire of the targeted population to feel the need to do better in their school work, but also to focus on developing social skills as well as independent thought/reasoning skills. This program will also stress the importance of physical fitness, how to set/achieve goals, teamwork, and making right decisions.

2. This program is designed to provide youth a safe and nurturing environment in which to acquire the leadership skills necessary to navigate the increasing negative influences which face them daily. JYRIC is also designed to partner with parents/guardians, teachers, guidance counselors, and volunteers who have a sincere desire to help instill a sense of belonging and value to the lives of youth through reading and sports. By working with others, the program will be able to quickly identify those youth who are at risk due to poor school attendance, grades, behavioral problems, little to no parental involvement, and critical things that may be going on in their lives.

3. The main focus is to provide a structured reading program along with having a tutorial program in place. This would be surrounded by a structured recreational program to provide opportunities for at-risk youth to be involved in team sports/activities. By improving a youth's self-image, hopefully each individual will improve his social and communication skills and will be better equipped to set long and short term goals. An after school and weekend programs will be setup, also teachers' workdays.

4. The focus also is to have programs setup during those most critical times youth are prone to get into trouble. The program hopes to develop partnerships with local schools and churches.

5. The sports curriculum will consist of teaching fundamentals, instructional videos, group lectures, and organized team games in different sports. Along with help from local schools (principals), the use of their facilities will be a tremendous help in the start up of this program. The program would like to serve between 10 and 15 boys at a time. At the end, the program's goal is each individual has improved in one or more areas mentioned in this article.

6. The program wants to target the rural areas where youth are more in need of structured programs during the times their parents are working, and they're confronted with nothing to do and no supervision.

- Roger Jones, Executive Director