• Engaging students in an appropriate CONTEXT for growth. That is, having them participate in sports and other activities that are voluntary, challenging and require commitment and effort over time
• Surrounding them with positive EXTERNAL ASSETS, including caring adult mentors in the form of academic coaches, and community and school leaders
• Teaching students INTERNAL ASSETS, such as interpersonal, decision-making, and problem-solving skills, and providing them with opportunities to try out their skills in community engagement activities
• Using RESEARCH and EVALUATION to identify and implement best practices and guide program improvements

By using these four goals as our guiding principles, we are confident in the successful delivery of our program.

PROGRAM ELEMENTS
Academics In Motion has five key components to its program. It is the interplay of these components that will establish AIM as a leader in the field of youth development. These are also the core competencies around which the program will come to be known.

An explanation of each of these key components follows.

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT COACH
The Youth Development Coach (YDC) is a critical factor to the success of AIM as these people act as the on-site AIM representatives. Each school is assigned a YDC, who is employed by AIM. The Youth Development Coach works with the student-athletes for approximately 20 hours per week during the school year. The majority of this time is spread among individual counseling, small group work and meeting with coaches. YDC's collaborate with each team's head coach and school personnel (e.g. Principal and Athletic Director) to design programs consistent with the AIM framework that best utilize local school and community resources to meet the needs of the participants at each site. Typical activities either provided or facilitated by YDC’s include:

• One-on-one counseling
• Advisement
• Tutoring
• Study Halls
• Life Skills Instruction
• Team Building
• SAT/PSAT/ACT Prep
• Community Service
• College Selection & Application
• Parent Nights and/or
• Incentive Programs to Encourage Participation

The YDC’s are supervised by the Program Director. The Program Director will supervise and support each YDC during the school year, ensuring that each has a strong annual curriculum plan and the necessary resources to create an impactful program.

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
AIM’s Training & Development centers on preparing both YDC’s and Key Stakeholders in each school for success in working with the program.

The YDC’s work with industry-leading universities to conduct orientation trainings, plus three additional trainings per year. Combining the collegiate expertise of “Youth Development and Counseling” into our system will help maintain best practices in an evolving field.

Our YDC’s come to us with diverse backgrounds and various levels of experience. The trainings taught jointly with top specializing universities serve to unify our YDC’s in terms of goals, expectations and philosophies. YDC’s are also educated in topics related to youth development, counseling, building relationships and crisis management. Our mentors come together several times per year to network, share information, and problem solve.

Training stakeholders is critically important to the success of the AIM model. Without their understanding and support, the program would not garner the resources or commitment required for success throughout the year. The main stakeholders at each school are generally:

• Teachers
• Coaches
• Principals and Administrators
• Guidance Counselors
• Parents/Caregivers

RESEARCH & EVALUATION
Being able to demonstrate solid performance results in our schools through measurable factors not only lends credibility to our program, but also proves our business model. Our partnership with a field-leading university maintains the integrity of our research by acting as a third party that collects, analyzes and evaluates AIM’s academic data.

Data is collected and synthesized related to:

• Athletic team history
• Roster
• Team GPA
• Team graduation rates
• Three-year academic trends
• Pre/Post data
• Academic coach-specific success rates

AIM’s key success factors are measurable and relate to:

• Increases in Grade Point Average
• Increases in Graduation Rates
• Increases in College Attendance
• Number of students meeting Eligibility Requirements

The University designs and develops all research studies and produces annual reports by school, by sport and by program. Any learning gained from these reports is integrated into our programs and services.

COMMUNITY COALITION
An important element of the AIM model is the Community Coalition. The Community Coalition is a group of key school personnel, community leaders, parents and students that have three key roles:

• To facilitate fundraising for specific needs for the students in their school. These include: school supplies, test preparation materials, test preparation teachers, training materials, travel to visit colleges and test fees
• To facilitate strong community relations. This might include interfacing with community leaders, informing AIM of opportunities to participate in community events and generally being a “face” of AIM in the community
• To garner local program support. Generally, local program support could include creating bridges among key stakeholders, soliciting in-kind donations and acting as “voices” for the program in the media when appropriate

The Community Coalition is critical to AIM as they provide hands-on, immediate feedback in all situations, allowing AIM to react quickly to shortcomings and opportunities.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
One of the strengths of the AIM model is that all administrative aspects of the program are managed by AIM for their school-partners. The administration of the program includes managing the YDC’s. This is done by a “Program Director” who is responsible for weekly contact with the YDC and key stakeholders within the school. In addition, AIM handles all employee-related tasks and expenses, including payroll, insurance, timesheets, etc. This support also includes finding grants for the school in the event that they do not have the funds in the budget to adopt the AIM program. Quite literally, the school has very limited responsibility in executing the program.