Pep Rally for U Can Do It!® Leadership Empowerment Achievement Program (LEAP) presented by URWorthIt!® Believe in Yourself at KIPP South Fulton Academy, 1286 East Washington Ave., East Point, GA 30344, Friday, January 24, 2014 at 4 PM.

URWorthIt!®, a nonprofit dedicated to helping children build confidence, self-worth, and achievement of their goals, together with ATL Psychotherapy & Consulting Services will hold a kick-off pep rally for the 6th-grade students this Friday, January 24, 2014, at 4 PM at the KIPP South Fulton Academy. The pep rally will introduce them to a year-long interactive educational program entitled U Can Do It!® Leadership Empowerment Achievement Program (LEAP) and how they can apply to participate. The program is unique in that education is for both students and their parents/caretakers.

Adolescence is a pivotal stage of human development where sound guidance and meaningful learning opportunities are critical to the process of becoming productive members of society. This developmental period is often marked by decreased communication, infrequent affirmation by parents, and a general sense of feeling misunderstood. Empowerment training programs have been demonstrated to be beneficial for individuals who present with a range of emotional challenges, behavioral difficulties, and relational problems. Historically, work with this population has focused on developing interventions that target a limited set of predetermined behaviors without regard for the family system in which these behaviors occur. Parents of youth who have these difficulties may experience frustration in communication and have been shown to benefit from training programs that are implemented correctly and consistently. The U Can Do It!® Leadership Empowerment Achievement Program (LEAP) is designed to be a comprehensive behavioral approach to working with children and families to increase their self-efficacy and thus their capacity to utilize each other as a social support system and work together to overcome life’s challenges and obstacles.