Town of North Hempstead ‘MPowers’ Future First Generation College Students

June 15, 2010 – On Thursday June 3rd, the MPowering Kids’ 5^th through 8^th grade students attended a tour of Hofstra University.  The Town of North Hempstead’s Community Services Program provided the transportation, making the dream of college attendance a little more of a reality.

More than thirty-five of the MPowering Kids students, aged 11 – 15, visited the campus and attended a question and answer session.  They soon learned about the role of Resident Assistants, sports opportunities offered by Hofstra, the low class size and, of great interest, the twenty-one eateries on campus.  By visiting many local colleges during their nine years in the MPowering Kids program, the college experience becomes a bit less mysterious to these students who often belong to the first generation in their family to attend college.

MPowering Kids is an academic and comprehensive after-school program for motivated, yet economically-disadvantaged, students who attend the Westbury School District.  The program focuses on bolstering academic achievement and fostering a life-long love of learning while providing a safe environment and supervision in the after-school hours.  Once accepted into the program, students and their families work with MPowering Kids staff and volunteers for nine years from the fourth through the twelfth grade

MPowering Kids was founded as a nonprofit 501(c)3 in 2001.  The Village of Westbury, Long Island, NY was chosen as the initial site for the program.  In the past nine years, the Westbury site has fulfilled the original program goals with great success.  This success is measured by student achievement, increased enrollment and support from the Westbury School District.  From September 2002 through June 2010, the enrollment of Westbury students in the MPowering Kids Program has tripled.  The existing MPowering Kids’ students have all participated in the program since they entered the fourth grade.  The upcoming 2010 - 2011 school year will be pivotal in the history of this organization, as the first class will graduate high school and prepare to enter college in September of 2011.