Our work today has moved beyond the focus we had through the football program so that we could reach a broader group of students whose interests may not be centered on athletics, or even more narrowly football.
Our Program Leader continues to be Fred Jackson, Climate and Culture Coach. We work through Fred in that capacity, and other staff and faculty members at Ypsilanti Schools to identify any students who have complications and barriers in their young lives which are inhibiting their paths to success. To be sure, the most important work that is done is the trusting connection that Fred enjoys with the Ypsilanti Community Schools students so that they are comfortable sharing their challenges, and we are then in a position to bring resources to have them addressed. The challenges are surprising to many, and staggering in the level of distress and the number of students who must deal with these very difficult distractions from what a typical student in our region experiences. They include:
1. Eviction
2. Power shut off
3. Domestic violence
4. Food insecurity
5. Transportation
6. Childcare
7. Homelessness
Furthermore, because of the long-term nature of many of these unaddressed complications and barriers, many of these students are severely deficient in their academic skills – especially reading and math skills. So, more recently, our efforts in the Student Development Program under Fred’s leadership are to address these complications. 
Thanks again to so many of our committed and tireless contributors, we have resources to address these complications. And perhaps more importantly for the long-term growth of these students, we have developed reading and math programs so that these students get at least one more chance to gain these critical basic skills before they age-out of High School.
Indeed that is so much of what the Student Development Program is all about now:
Offering one more chance to high schools students, many of whom are thought to be given up upon, so that they too, can have the opportunity to have a real vision of the American Dream, and to believe that it can happen in their lives.