City ACES collaborates with professional athletes, area schools, and local civic institutions to create a one day interactive, informative, and motivational “assembly type” event, to stress the utility of educational attainment to middle school students. This collaboration reinforces the community’s capacity to develop and sustain scholars, while identifying mentors willing to guide the students towards academic and personal excellence.

The event culminates with the children being able to interact personally with the athletes, in a question and answer format, giving the participants a chance to showcase their passion for education, share their experiences, and communicate a vision for educational attainment through words or images. These events seek to create a protective umbrella for those who desire to excel in academics, with the understanding that if my hero thinks education is cool, then I should not be ashamed to also think that education is cool.

Upon completion of the event and assembly, our City ACES Mentors Program (CAMP) takes over and activates our local partners, who remain in close contact with the school, and make their organizations available for in-school and after-school mentorship, tutoring, and other student outreach activities. The participating community then becomes part of our global network of up and coming youth scholars and adult mentors, engaged in a meaningful and proactive push for academic excellence.

“An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.”
-Bill Bernbach