Due to gentrification in Denver City and County, many low income families are moving to Adams County, north of Denver. To serve the community where needed, YESS expands its services to the Westminster School District in Adams County. YESS becomes an integrated, credited, daily class for 300 students at Shaw Heights, Ranum and Scott Carpenter Middle Schools.
Washington DC National Mentoring Summit in January 2015 features YESS Institute’s “Peer Mentoring: The Next Generation” workshop
Board of Directors institutes YESS Road to Success Scholarship for most deserving YESS mentors.
YESS Mentoring expands its curriculum to a middle school model with all YESS lesson plans linked to the learning targets of the school district and the State of Colorado.
In 2015 YESS develops curriculum for the Denver Office of the Independent Monitor’s initiative Bridging the Gap – Cops and Kids Forums.
In 2015 Rocky Mountain PBS invites YESS as a community partner in its documentary series: Standing in the Gap: Race & Denver Schools”
In 2016 YESS receives the MBK25 – My Brother’s Keeper – Award from Denver Mayor Michael Hancock for its work with boys and young men of color.
In 2016 YESS strengthens internal processes and support system by hiring first Development Director; Program Director without direct service requirements; part-time Office Manager.
In the 2016 – 2017 School Year YESS expands its footprint as Adams 14 School District adopts YESS Institute’s model at Adams City High School; DPS Lake International MS integrates YESS middle school model allocating full-time in-school teacher
YESS receives funding from Department of Higher Education to expand post-secondary readiness support for YESS students during and after high school in two ways:
1) YESS students receive support per College Challenge counselors on college campuses
2) YESS institutes full-time position: College Navigator
In the 2017 – 2018 School Year, YESS partners with Aurora Mental Health, Goodwill, Denver Urban Scholars, Aurora Youth Options and Aurora Research Institute regarding increasing support for students with learning disabilities through a partnership grant by OJJDP. As a result YESS starts serving Westminster High School in Westminster Public Schools.
YESS completes Road to Success Curriculum – a comprehensive curriculum to provide students the toolto nurture healthy relationships with themselves and others, and to educate, inspire, and motivate others to stand up for a social justice issue they are most passionate about. As well, students will learn how to make healthy, informed choices when confronted with marijuana, unhealthy peer influences, and their finances.
YESS partners with the the Denver Office for Children’s Affairs in developing a balanced, educational, and interactive marijuana curriculum – Healthy Lifestyles – to engage middle school students in an after-school setting
In 2018 – 2019 School Year YESS hires its second post-secondary success Navigator to support YESS juniors and seniors in all five YESS high schools, in addition to continue to support YESS students in their post-secondary career.
YESS initiates the Board of Trustees – a philanthropic advisory board – to increase individual donations, increase community connections and strengthen revenue diversification.
In 2019, YESS is invited to expand programming in Adams 14. YESS now has a total of 10 school based programs across Colorado, the newest editions being at Kearney Middle and Adams City Middle Schools.