Banister’s Leadership Academy

The mission of Banisters Leadership Academy is to strengthen youth and families through leadership. Our program offers engaging, fun, age-specific leadership programming in schools, after school, and during the evening hours on weekends. All our programming is guided by our 12 Pillars of Leadership: Respect, Responsibility, Trustworthiness, Citizenship, Caring, Fairness, Honesty, Integrity, Perseverance, Courage, Unity, and Creativity. We work with families to provide their youth positive experiences, role models, and tangible skills that they can use today and in the future.

In School:
Leadership in Action (LIA):
Leadership in Action (LIA) is an engaging avenue for character education and leadership development. It targets various “Risk and Criminogenic Need Factors” and provides “Protective Factors and Assets” to help youth move towards a stable lifestyle outside of the juvenile justice system. LIA focuses on developing leadership in youth and helping them to critically think and make informed decisions that impact their lives. We visit your student’s school, and work with them in a group setting upon the principal’s referral. Each session centers around 1 of the 12 Pillars. Your student will be empowered to think of ways they can use the skills they learned in their day to day and truly implement them.

Goal Setting:
Goal Setting is small group mentoring informed by evidence-based“Effective Practicesfrom Mentoring” model and the “Student Goal Setting Evidence Based Practice”. It is lead by a vetted and trained Goal Setter who is responsible for guiding the mentee towards formulating relevant and attainable goals, mentorship, and their direct case management. The Goal Setterprogram provides youth with adult mentor/mentee activities, reduced behavioral infractions, increased citizenship, and youth specific Individual Leadership Plans.

Out of School:
Night L.I.F.E. Program:
Night L.I.F.E.’s focus is to engage K-8thgrade youth in positive programming and activities that support their personal development during high-risk hours after school, Friday and Saturday 6-10 pm. This program is geared towards students with limited access to extracurricular activities that aid in personal developmentand academic access. It serves as a form of support for families with demanding work schedules and youth who would be unsupervised providing a safe, fun, and structured community.

Family University:
Fun, Family, Financial Literacy! 4 times a month, we are inviting you to attend Family Engagement University. This program will always start off with a hot meal for you and your family that will be served family style to allow your family to talk about the week without any distractions. We have partnered with ACCESS bank to the rest of the night will vary between activities that range from a combination of family activities to times where only parents meet to talk about and learn strategies from “goal setter families”!

Juvenile Justice Family Navigator Program:
The purpose of our Family Navigator Program is to provide leadership development skills for youth that are involved in the juvenile justice system. The goal is to empower these youth so they may build self-esteem and learn how to take accountability for their life trajectory. A goal setter (a Banister’s staff member or a Banister’s trained and vetted mentor) will be provided to the youth and their family to assist them in navigating the juvenile justice system by providing resources, advocating, strengthening their social skills, and ultimately, creating individualized leadership plans to monitor academic success and engagement in positive activities