The SAT and ACT tests determine the college admissions chances of most teens. We introduce preparation for the kinds of questions asked on those tests, including basic arithmetic, algebra, and geometry and reading comprehension so that the students become familiar of these questions instead of scared of them. We specifically scale and present our curriculum to students from immigrant backgrounds to help compensate for a deficiency in full English reading and comprehension skills. We are also available to help with writing college admissions essays, to highlight students’ strengths and to also explain apparent deficiencies and present those in the best light possible. Teens must be taught not to be so intimidated by these tests. So many are intimidated and adopt a passive attitude of just being intimidated without good reason!

As a Christ-centered service organization, we teach that sex should be realized in marriage. However, to teach chastity and abstinence before marriage, we must help teens understand what is happening in their bodies; they must know and appreciate the meaning of the changes they are feeling and experiencing. This includes a full knowledge of contraception and of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). We do not avoid the issue of gender identities; our aim is to help teens come to full understanding of their bodies, and identities in a Biblical way.

When teens get a job for the first time they must learn HOW to spend and to save. We teach those specific skills, including how to keep a journal of expenses. We periodically review these journals with our clients in a non-judgmental helpful way and suggest improvements and alternatives. We are very aware that today’s teens live in a consumerist society which bombards them with messages about what they are supposed to buy. What we do is to present another way of conceiving of income and expenses as resistance to corporate profiteers trying to take advantage of teens. We believe that this way of teaching about external consumerist coercion mobilizes teens to make the right decision.

Teens get many ideas from media such as magazines about how to arrange their hair and cosmetics. What we aim to do is to provide them with appealing options which are still modest in presentation and appearance. We present it as “this can be your own idea, as opposed to what media are telling you.” We strive to convey an idea of simplicity in beauty presentation as opposed to being “made-up” and too complicated. One advantage here is that we present this as saving in time preparing appearance and so saving oneself much time and frustration. The idea is to present this as an approach they can adopt themselves as opposed to being coerced by commercialism. We make TV and advertising the enemy of teens, as they are indeed.

One focus of our group is to join the mass uprising against bullying in schools and as it happens everywhere, including workplaces. As a Christ-centered education foundation, we reject the hurting and intimidation of anybody, just as Jesus would have. We are comprehensive in our approach and teach students to recognize the subtle signs of bullying, both verbal and non-verbal, to nip bullying in the bud before it can start. We also teach students to recognize whether they or their friends are engaging in bullying (we do not just focus on victims). We teach them to recognize and stop this behavior even if they themselves are not the target. The idea is that resisting bullying is something EVERYONE does, and in which everyone joins in to prevent. We also promote reconciliation sessions where bullies and their victims talk it out in a Christian way, and hopefully can become new friends.

We completely recognize that a major source of needed help in public schools and awful tendency not to be able to afford textbooks, pens, pencils, paper, erasers, sharpeners, and other school materials including school bags. So many outstanding and selfless teachers’ pay for these materials for their students out of their own salaries and personal funds. They should not have to shoulder this sacrifice. A major goal of our organization in our fundraising is to highlight the need for such charitable aid and take this burden off these heroic teachers.

One need we must recognize is how many teens can feel isolated. Even many teens who do not seem isolated spend too much time on social media interacting with friends they rarely see. We pair off students together, especially from different background cultures, as a way to make new friends and end psychologically distressing loneliness (for both parties). One part of this is individual and group excursions to museums and perhaps the zoo to encourage cultural enrichment in a supportive group setting.