Although The V(i)llage™ was purposefully created with a focus on African, African American, bi- and multiracial middle- and high school students, this college pathways program is for inclusive-minded youth from all cultural backgrounds. The V(i)llage™ also serves Black collegians and operates in Oklahoma, Texas and Utah. The V(i)llage™ curriculum is based on six areas of emphasis that participants in our pilot test program (2013) wanted to develop: leadership, advocacy, scholarship, community, involvement and culture. These six areas are what we call our The V(i)llage™ learner profile. Further, we learned in the pilot that student participants identified four identities as salient to their holistic development: race, gender, sexual orientation and religion. In combining the learner profile and salient identities, we constructed five substantive curriculum units that raise awareness of participants in the following areas: leadership, advocacy, non-cogitative academic practices, cultural worth and Black capital wealth.  

It is our comprehensive focus on student identity that makes The V(i)llage™ an intellectually demanding program. In each unit students have personal flexibility to determine a personal course of action for growth, the extent to which they share personal narratives and tutoring focus all geared to helping them actively move forward toward becoming global citizens.  

The V(i)llage™ is an evidence-based example of how engaging students at the holistic level increases their involvement in- and outside of K-12 classrooms. The V(i)llage™ is based on a rigorous interactive curriculum that exposes students to varying levels of abstraction while learning about beneficial concepts like practicing studious academic behaviors. The V(i)llage™ last 32 weeks, September to May. Program outcomes include increased GPA, lower truancy, increased school involvement and leader efficacy. Out leadership team consist of six undergraduate ambassadors, a program coordinator and two co-founders. Ambassadors are trained in curriculum delivery and offer individualized tutoring to participants.

The V(i)llage™ currently serves students attending 14 schools: East and West High Schools; Glendale and Northwest Middle Schools (Salt Lake City School District); Central Davis, North Davis, North Layton, Sunset, South Davis and Syracuse Junior High Schools; Clearfield, Syracuse and Woods Cross High Schools (Davis School District); and Cottonwood High School (Granite School District).

Post-program research has found that The V(i)llage™ participants experience a positive holistic impact! Participating in The V(i)llage™ translates into having a productive lifestyle and positive mindset while exhibiting behaviors that celebrate academic achievement, family, cultural pride and communal giveback.

Learning about the place of oneself within society in an exploratory process that fosters a sense of belongingness. It is also an interpretive process that allows opportunities for self immersion in unfamiliar spaces, places and context in order to arrive at varied multiple destinations, solutions, and outcomes. Studying the reactions versus responses of oneself creates an understanding of not only a connectedness to the past, and present, but also how one's actions can positively or adversely impact one's future.

The V(i)llage™ serves approximately 409 students within 14 K-12 schools (2016). Racial disaggregation shown below. Click each color for numerical data.

In The V(i)llage™ participants learn to share their stories and experiences with their peers, and parents through writing dialogues, team-building engagements, animated performances, and educative gaming. In doing so, we utilize the lived/educated experiences of participants to guide discussions, and ensure curriculum is fun, youth appropriate, and applicable in real life situations.