Raising kids isn’t easy.
We want them to be happy, healthy, and hard-working, but we can’t be by their side every hour of the day — helping them stay out of trouble and always make the right decisions.
UPO’s Youth Services Division is here to help keep your child fulfilled, focused, and moving forward throughout the day and over the years. Our education and enrichment programs for first-graders to high school seniors are designed to make kids feel better about themselves, improve their academic and social skills, and become productive members of society. We also provide family support services to help create a supportive, nurturing setting for children and their families to develop, grow, and succeed.
Preparing your child for college success
Kids want and need to know that the adults in their lives are invested in their future and committed to helping make their dreams come true.
Providing Opportunities with Educational Readiness (P.O.W.E.R.) is a six-year program designed to help young people in DC do well in middle school and high school and ensure that they are academically and emotionally prepared to continue their education after graduation.
P.O.W.E.R. students participate in a wide variety of afterschool, weekend, and summertime activities, including STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programming and nationally recognized competitions, college readiness lessons, field trips and fairs, and workshops that teach students and their families how to get financial help and prepare for future job opportunities.
And the numbers show that P.O.W.E.R. really delivers! 30 of the program’s first group of 40 students enrolled in college after graduating high school, and P.O.W.E.R. participants have earned a total of $1.5 million in college scholarships.
We work with many other organizations to offer P.O.W.E.R. workshops and services, including Bowie State University, DC College Access Program, Sasha Bruce Teen Outreach Program, Patriots Technology, Future Resource Learning, Wards 7 & 8 DC Prevention Centers, and the Tau Gamma Delta Sorority of Washington, DC.
For more information about P.O.W.E.R., please contact:
Kiara Jones, Program Coordinator | (202) 610-4387
POWER APPLICATION
Learning is a year-round activity
When children are supported, motivated, and celebrated, there’s no end to what they can accomplish! That’s why it’s so important to keep them occupied and educated after school, over the summer, and whenever else they need attention and encouragement.
UPO’s Children Reaching Educational Achievements Through Enrichment (C.R.E.A.T.E.) program provides a safe, secure place for children to interact with their friends as they learn new things, eat healthy snacks, and think differently.
For more information about C.R.E.A.T.E., contact UPO’s Youth Services Center at (202) 610-5820.
CREATE APPLICATION
UPO Academic Scholarship
Putting a down payment on your child’s future
College isn’t cheap. We all want our children to have the opportunity to continue their education, but the financial reality often makes that dream difficult to achieve.
Since 1990, UPO has helped ease the burden of college hopefuls and their families by awarding scholarships. Currently, UPO gives $10,000 annually to each of 5 deserving DC high school students who want to improve their lives and their community by continuing to learn.
We know that being the first in the family to go to college or being away from home for the first time can be scary, overwhelming, and stressful on students and their families, so we also provide ongoing encouragement, support, and assistance to scholarship recipients.
For more information about our scholarship opportunities, please contact Alex Lawler at (202) 610-2014.
UPO Joseph A. Beavers Scholarship Application
Keynote Address at UPO’s 35th annual MLK Breakfast, Delivered by Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski
UPO was honored to have Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, III deliver the keynote address at our 35th annual MLK Jr. Memorial Breakfast. The event celebrated 5 outstanding DC high school students; UPO gave each of them a $10,000 Joseph A. Beavers College Scholarship to make their college dreams come true. (UPO has supported a total of 175 scholars.)
Dr. Hrabowski has served as President of UMBC (The University of Maryland, Baltimore County) since 1992, where he pioneered programs to help minority students succeed in math and science — programs that became national models. He’s also a role model: he was a child activist during civil right protests and has devoted his life to helping others succeed.
