Kid Power, Inc.

Kid Power inspires youth leadership by promoting academic advancement, physical and emotional wellness, and positive civic engagement in underserved communities throughout the District of Columbia.Kid Power embraces youth voice and believes that every young person can become an informed and engaged advocate for change in their own lives and in their communities.

With leadership central to all its programs, we operate four core programs that address the interconnected academic, social, and health needs facing DC youth. 

1. After-School program operates for three hours a day, Monday through Friday starting with the Academic Power Hour. Students receive homework help and small group mentoring/tutoring taught by Kid Power instructors who work collaboratively with DC teachers to assist with school day instruction. Students then participate in the following enrichment activities:    

• VeggieTime enrichment: Students study sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and environmental science. Students apply these lessons to school-based gardens. Youth help lead garden design, maintenance, and harvesting and use produce in cooking classes. They also run school-based markets to engage with the community and acquire financial and marketing skills.
• Citizenship enrichment: Students participate in a literacy-building curriculum to study US and global history and the building blocks of democracy, and connect lessons to service-learning projects and student elections to encourage civic participation.
• Art with A Purpose: Students engage in creative art projects to support emotional expression, communication, teamwork, self-reflection, mindfulness, and being present.
• STEM enrichment: Students engage in hands-on science lessons to gain critical thinking, chemistry, physics, geometry, and engineering skills.
• Kid Power Circles: Students share positive moments and challenges, engage in team building, provide program feedback, and lead conversations about community issues. These activities support youth leadership and provide safety and security for all students.
• Tutoring Field Trips: Through its public private partnership with partner high schools, Kid Power students work with high school tutors for one-on-one or small group homework help and literacy activities.

2. Summer Leadership Academy (SLA), a daily, interactive five-week program,. Students participate in morning academic classes and afternoon enrichment sessions based on the school-year enrichment programs. The SLA provides youth with the opportunity to acquire workforce development skills such as public speaking, researching, marketing, financial literacy, goal setting, and technology use through long-term projects.

3. In-School Health and Wellness, was launched in 2019 with new funding from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education and FoodCorps. FoodCorps is a federally funded AmeriCorps service program to connect students at high-poverty schools to healthy food, so they can lead healthier lives. In the program, our FoodCorps Service Members teach in-school health and environmental lessons to over 1,000 students. They also run cafeteria taste test events, composting and recycling composting, and market and school wellness events. 

4. Mentoring and Enrichment trains and matches community mentors to middle and high school students to support high school graduation rates and social-emotional growth and provides older youth targeted enrichment opportunities through PowerUp! programming. This program follows national best practices that support enhanced youth outcomes and includes career site visits, college tours, enrichment activities, and ongoing match support. Students receive five hours of face-to-face contact each month and weekly phone calls with their mentors, as well as consistent support from the Kid Power staff to document and encourage monthly progress.