ELITE is an acronym for Educated Leaders with Innovation and Tenacity to Evolve. ELITE is comprised of a group of college students from different backgrounds who have a passion for encouraging the development of youth. Our goal is to take noble elements such as personal development, artistic expression, and community service and make them appealing to youth. We work directly with eighth grade students and encourage them to incorporate these elements in their future high school endeavors. ELITE’s mission is "to encourage youth to be expressive and to empower them with the confidence needed to not only succeed academically, but also be positive leaders in the midst of negative influence." We strive to introduce them to several outlets of creativity and broaden their perspectives in areas such as, but not limited to, creative writing, style, and photography.
Style is a fundamental aspect of the ELITE club. A common misconception is that style is about expressing power or status; however, it’s deeper than that. We believe style is a creative way to articulate our unique personalities. Not only is it our way of expressing ourselves creatively, but it is also the means by which we connect to the youth we work with. Since young adolescents are very often preoccupied with appearance, it goes without saying that they are more likely to seek to emulate mentors that make an impression in the way they present themselves; we use our unique aesthetic as a mean of capturing their intrigue.
Youth Development is our passion; and this is where our happiness exists. Achieving goals and reaching moments of satisfaction is important to every individual and even more important to maturing youth. We are determined not just to give back to the community through standard community service, but to create a extraordinary experience that will help enhance, uplift, motivate and guide youth to evolve as students and reach their personal goals.
Our motivation is seeing youth struggle due to lack of proper influence and positive direction. Throughout college, as community advocates, we have seen youth struggle and be held back by adversity. With no true role models or persistent positive guidance the youth are lost, looking in search for recognition and influence. Our determination is to fill that void and see youth utilize their talents to better themselves as well as their communities.
Style holds major significance in youth culture, especially in the inner-city. Children admire and respect mentors who they can connect with. Because ELITE shares this common culture and way of thinking with them, we believe we can have a strong impact on the age group we target, as well as make a stronger connection with them.
P.S. Read the selected bolded words :)
