Introduction

Why, in a developed country like the United States, where free public education is available in almost every city, are there so many nonprofits focused on education and youth? Is public education not enough anymore? In recent years, public education has lost its power to “equalize” high- and low-income families. Summer Search provides students with the character-building extracurricular activities and mentoring support that will keep them motivated throughout the challenges of puberty, high school and college. Unfortunately, low-income students have difficulty finding this in their own families, and many nonprofits try to fill the gap in some way, but only Summer Search offers a holistic service.

Summer Search deeply believes in the pressing need to level the playing field, and offers a combination of experiential learning and practical skills, one-to-one mentoring, and a support network that will keep low-income students in a positive trajectory towards college. Through these services, students develop their leadership and communication skills, and become reflective and accountable individuals who are not afraid to dream of a better life. They know and happily accept the challenge that their life is their own and that they alone are responsible for making the best out of it. This motivation, this fight against resignation, is what Summer Search’s students receive throughout the program, and it is what keeps them on the right track to becoming well-prepared citizens who will positively contribute to society.

Summer Search’s model has been overwhelmingly effective in helping students graduate from high school in all seven cities in which it operates, and Philadelphia is no exception. After four years in operation, Summer Search Philadelphia has a high school graduation rate of 100 percent and a college attrition rate of 100 percent. The benefits accrue not only to these students themselves, but to society as a whole.