HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i will host the Youth Impact Program, June 17-28, on the UH Manoa Campus. The Youth Impact Program (YIP) is an innovative program that partners with universities across the nation to promote positive development in at-risk middle school male students between 10 and 14 years old.
 
This is the third straight year UH is hosting the program. In the past two years nearly 200 Hawai'i youth have participated in the 10-day camp, run by a staff of UH student-athletes, coaches, and public school teachers, as well as members of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marines.
 
The free program provides 60+ hours of classroom time and 20 hours of football fitness training, mentoring and teaching over the course of 10 days. Participants are provided two meals a day, transportation to the University of Hawai'i, equipment and supplies, clothing, field trips, and the opportunity to learn more about UH.
 
YIP is STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) based and uses football terminology to make math, reading, and life skills learning more applicable for students who are uncomfortable in a traditional learning environment.
 
Program founder Riki Ellison explains that the program is set apart by it's community-based approach and exposure to the University for the youngsters. Most importantly is the value of personalized attention by camp mentors and its lasting effects on the campers who are entering a crucial and impressionable stage of their lives.
 
 "Most of these kids don't have access to a major academic institute in their neighborhood," he said. "Most of these children don't' have high character role models to look up to. What we're doing is putting groups of kids with two to three student-athletes and two-to-three Marines and they stay with them for the entire two weeks. And they bond, they develop trust, and they have love they take with them beyond the camp when we are no longer with them. That is their spark. All we have to do is ignite that spark."
 
Ellison, a former Super Bowl Champion and a 2017 Polynesian Football Hall of Fame inductee, launched the first program in 2006 and since then it has helped thousands of kids across across the country. Beside UH, three other schools are participating this year – Maryland, Michigan, and Utah. Elliison, who is of Maori descent, says the UH program is his favorite due to its cultural diversity, its aloha spirit, and its brining of Polynesian cultures together.
 
Senior offensive lineman J.R. Hensley has served as a counselor the last two years and says the rewards of the program goes both ways.

"It's really amazing to have an opportunity to impact these kids," Hensley said. "Interacting these with these kids, learning about them, learning about responsibility, lending a hand, and being a leader….I can't learn this anywhere else. It's been such a privilege and a blessing. It's gone from being just a camp I'm working through the summer to something that is quite life-changing."
 
For more information and to register for this one-of-a kind program, click here. Or contact program director Jason Cvercko at jcvercko@hawaii.edu.