High School

After School

Much like our Junior High program in the daily schedule the High School program offers the kids with the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty in their life and for their family by having an even larger focus on job security and higher education.

Colby Grindean works very closely with his 22 teens to ensure that they are college bound. He is very thankful that all five of his seniors will go onto college next fall and will have some sort of scholarship money to help offset the cost.

The first objective is to graduate high school. Homework time is a very serious time for these students. Without good grades they cannot graduate or go onto higher education gaining self sufficiency in a world were college degrees are key.

Once homework is complete they have the following activities to keep them busy:

Free time
Photography
STEP/DRAMA
College Visit (once a semester)

On Tuesdays only the Juniors and Seniors meet for college prep. The students work with both Curtis Adkins and Colby to do college research, scholarship search, essay writing, SAT/ACT prep and guidance, as well as what to expect once your in college and the dos and don’ts of a college student.

This is where all that we do at Shepherd Community Center comes together. This is where the cycle of poverty is broken for one individual, their future family, and our hope is eventually the near east side of Indianapolis.

Summer Day Camp

Unlike other day camps this is very career and college focused. Like other day camps our High School Students have a blast. They meet M-F from 10-6 they enjoy things like:

Educational Overnighter -one week trip with the high school group to a city or state where they can learn about a point of interest hands on, in 2006 they went to Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Gettysburg where they learned about the government, its history, and how it works today.
Camptown –Wilderness Adventure Group that takes the kids on an overnight camping trip, a day hike and a canoeing trip while teaching them team building and positive character traits.
Basketball Camp -Ray Tolbert, Past IU basketball star runs this camp for our junior high and high school students. This program is sponsored by East 91st Church.
Swimming once a week
End of the Summer trip to Kings Island
2 days a week they visit either a college or a business with 8 colleges being visited in total.
2 days a week they participate in “REAL GAME” a curriculum that offers a mock job hunt, interview, and salary in which they must budget out. This is offered by local retired business professionals and gives the kids real incite to the “real” business world.
ESC –a program that offers four 1 ½ hour sessions of in depth resume coaching and interview skills training.

Writing skills are a must for anyone to succeed that is why Colby requires all of his students to write an essay on any of the trips or activities that the kids participate in throughout the summer.

A strong work ethic and the ability to manage money is also important for any young adult to acquire. Therefore, the kids work 8 hours a week and then put into a savings account at Kempa Credit Union a predetermined amount. They will then attend a budgeting workshop put on by Kempa to learn invaluable money management skills.

Its about their future, its about self-sufficiency, its about breaking the cycle of poverty, but most importantly its about this wonderful kids who now have a bright future because of all they can take with them.

For more information on our High School Programs, please contact:

Colby Grindean
Director of High School Programs
colbyg@shepherdcommunity.org