“We believe that our high school students should have a voice; that drives our Bright Futures creative programming and opportunities,” said Bright Futures Sponsor Melissa Calabrese. “We aim to be a diverse, youth-driven teen center dedicated to promoting personal growth through academic enrichment, artistic expression, community leadership, and the exchange of ideas.”

      Bright futures is an after school club and they work on academics. It is a place to make friends and do homework and get help and have little clubs. Bright futures is funded by Eastern Michigan University. They have clubs at upper elementary schools and middle schools as well.

      “John Glenn High School, [as] EMU Bright Futures, we offer a wide variety of activities to students to help motivate students to greater social and academic achievement while having a ton of fun. We give students opportunities to be leaders, mentors, and community stewards. We offer a positive atmosphere, enriched with supportive staff, by providing engaging activities that promote positive self-growth in our students,” Calabrese stated.

      EMU Bright Futures students benefit from many programs including homework help, mentoring, field trips, college tours, family events, summer programs, and much more.

      “Our clubs are offered for approximately eight weeks. Students propose and vote for new clubs each quarter.  For the first quarter, we are offering G.S.A., Totally Gross Science Club, Sewing/Knitting, Computer Programming, Active Games, Mindfulness Art, PhotoVoice, Anime, extra homework time, and strategy games.  Students are already pitching ideas for quarter two including an entrepreneur club, engineering with the University of Michigan, cooking, leadership clubs, dance, film, medical exploration, and much more! If you have an idea, please share it with us!  We will be voting for quarter two clubs around the third week of October,” said Calabrese. “We believe that our high school students should have a voice that drives our Bright Futures creative programming and opportunities. We aim to be a diverse, youth-driven teen center dedicated to promoting personal growth through academic enrichment, artistic expression, community leadership, and the exchange of ideas.”

      EMU’s 21CCLC Bright Futures are high quality after-school programs in three school districts: Romulus, Wayne-Westland, and Ypsilanti Community Schools.

      The focus of Bright Futures is to improve academic achievement, develop self-efficacy, and prepare elementary, middle, and high school students to transition to the next level of schooling. The main goals of the program are to increase academic achievement, student academic learning, student learning in non-academic areas, student knowledge of career options and how to achieve them, the experience of students transitioning to the next level (elementary to middle, middle to high school, high school to postsecondary), the literacy of parents in the skills that will help their children in English, language arts, and math, and student self-efficacy through leadership experiences and service-learning.

      Bright futures is every Monday through Thursday and anyone can join. Interest forms are in the main office and counseling office.

      Wayne-Westland Bright Futures is having a big event next Friday, Oct. 19 at Franklin Middle School.  Families, teachers, and staff are invited to join us to show support for after school programming.

      “The national event is called ‘Lights On!’” Melissa would like to add.