The most respected authorities all agree that the following constitute core skills for effective living: 

• Problem Solving

• Critical Thinking

• Effective Communication Skills

• Decision-Making

• Creative Thinking

• Interpersonal Relationship Skills

• Self-Awareness Skills

• Empathy

• Coping With Stress

• Coping With Emotions.

When these valuable skills are not modeled for children – or even worse, the opposite is consistently displayed for their consumption… At-risk children can develop a distorted view of reality where there are no clear paths to success other than those driven by talent, good genes, or “luck”. These children do not see that success flows from the discipline to consistently apply and develop these skills. They never get to see that success is a byproduct of good decisions repeated daily over time. Our Life skills programs show them this process and help them develop the skills to create lives that they can be proud of that change the world for the better.

This program is an eight-week workshop that exposes 30-40 girls and 10 boys each year to a wide range of entertainment industry career opportunities.  Students learn about all aspects of an industry project from development and pre-production through production and post-production activities. Attendees participate in a series of exercises that teach teamwork, patience, and elements of creative development.  Teens are granted an opportunity to visit various film productions to get a ‘real world’ feel for the entertainment industry. The workshop series culminates in a mini-production conceived and executed by the students themselves. Students are also led through a brainstorming exercise that generates a series of story ideas. The students are then taught about the various elements that come into play in choosing; guiding, and ultimately producing creative projects based on their story ideas.  Students then take the idea from concept to final product, working with program staff to plan and implement a performance.

This program teaches the importance of generational wealth. 

Teens are introduced very important Financial Concepts:

1. Why saving money is important – and how to make it a habit.

2. How to be careful when borrowing money – and when it makes sense.

3. How to Avoid Overspending by classifying NEEDS and “wants”.

4. How to be protected from Frauds and Scams.

5. How to make “saved money” work for you to earn “INTEREST”.

6. Benefits of keeping your money in a financial institution.

7. Money management essentials: check writing and balancing; Reviewing bank statements for errors; How to identify sound investments; How to make compound interest work for them instead of against them; Questions to ask financial advisors and tax accountants; What is the purpose of the banking system; How to avoid credit card debt.  In addition, participants have an opportunity to visit a financial institute and learn the daily operations of a banking institution.

Our World has transformed from a world we primarily physically interacted with our environment to create positive changes to a world we increasingly mentally interact with computers and systems to create those same changes. Our workforce has become more dependent on the internet for basic work functions. There are uncountable numbers of software that run on code of some kind. 

Coding is how our human instructions are transformed into a language computers can understand and execute for our benefit. We have very difficult problems to solve. Successful coding uses two of our most valuable resources: human ingenuity and limitless computing power to give us a fighting chance to solve many problems we face. 

DiamondsN2 Coding is an eight-week after-school creative lab workshop. Our participants will learn how to analyze and produce multimedia applications such mobile development, online profiles, web-based products, innovative business models, video games, and platform for film editing and robotics technology.  From programming fundamentals to launching full-stack web apps, students will learnt to solve problems with through code while applying industry best practices. Participants will showcase their final coding project at the end of each workshop.

As we evolve and understand the individual differences in our learning patterns, one thing has become clear: The more senses we can involve in the learning process – the greater the chances what we learn can become a permanent part of our lives. Digital Media Story telling combines the most powerful connection device “A Story” with all of the enhancement technology can offer to engage the senses for maximum impact. 

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We believe the development of this skill is critical for the improvement of our future world. As stories are told via digital media, listeners will be inspired, and their minds will be opened to imagine and visualize undiscovered answers to the problems facing our world. 

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This program provides an opportunity for foster care and young girls, ages 15-18 years old, to explore storytelling through digital media.  Participants have a chance to voice their personal issues in society and independently come up with a solution through filmmaking. Youth are provided hands-on instruction from pre-production through postproduction, and are taught new skills that are honed in on each individual’s creative talents.  The program builds self-esteem and helps young girls who may be introverted, to find their voice, release any frustrations, and learn how to exercise sound judgment when seeking a solution to problems.  Participants meet during after-school hours on Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 3:30-5:30, over a six-week period.  In the upcoming year, there will be 15 slots available and each teen must commit to participating in all 12 sessions. The organization collaborates with the Mary Pickford Mobile Institute, in order to accomplish our mission.

  A mentor shares with a mentee valuable insights and lessons learned on their own “life & career” to accelerate the mentee’s maturity and development.  Because they have been where the mentee is going they provide sound guidance, consistent motivation, and the emotional support required to endure the many challenges found on the road to success in a chosen profession and life. 

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The PSM program is an eight – month long program wherein teen girls between the ages of 14-18 are paired with entertainment executives who act as mentors and expose the teens to a wide range of careers in the entertainment industry and corporate America. Through this partnership, we will strive to transform the lives of these young women by teaching them how to diffuse formidable situations through a series of progressive activities exploring career opportunities outside their immediate environment; build bridges with other like-minded individual navigate successfully within and outside their communities by helping them to analyze and execute the appropriate course of action and exercising sound judgment; assess their strengths and weakness, set goals, build confidence 

Mentors & Mentees mentor will meet with her mentee 2x/month.  We will provide topics for the mentors to cover.  At the end of the month, we will ask the mentor/mentee duo to share their sessions with the rest of the group so that all of the participants can learn from each other. At the end of the program there will be a graduation and crossover precious stone celebration.