EVERETT — The year ended on a high note for a group of minority students in Snohomish County.
The Minority Achievers Program announced on Wednesday it received a $23,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation.
The money will expand the program’s work with young people who traditionally earn lower test scores and enter college in smaller numbers.
The achievers program was founded by the YMCA of Snohomish County to aid the region’s growing number of minority students.
“It really provides alternatives to destructive behaviors, like dropping out of school and getting involved in activities like gangs,” program director J.J. Frank said.
The grant money will support two outreach programs.
The bulk of it — $17,000 — already is funding an after-school program for Hispanic children at Explorer Middle School in the Mukilteo School District.
More than 60 of the school’s students have enrolled in the program in the past two years.
The remaining $6,000 will support a new summer soccer program.
Officials feel the sport will keep kids out of trouble while their parents are at work during the summer break. They expect to work with 50 kids.
To learn more about the Minority Achievers Program, go to the Teens section at www.ymca-snoco.org.
Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455, arathbun@heraldnet.com
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