The GCI Youth Academy

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 This program offers classes and activities that focus on writing, communication, research, personal development, leadership, and entrepreneurship.  Youth Academy participants also participate in the Greenhouse Debate Forum, Applied Organizing, Biz Rhetoric, and Word Diversion.         .

Students grade 4th-12th are eligible for participation.  Classes occur on campus during the day and after school.  Programming is generally available six days a week, M-Sat.  Participants complete four levels of participation during their enrollment.  Each level of participation provides increased opportunities and benefits for learning, leadership, and employment.  

Contact us today for information for your school district, youth program, or child.  

Volunteer and Employment opportunities are available!

 GCI prepares entrepreneurs for developing, acquiring, maintaining, and growing customers.  Our entrepreneur program emphasizes financial goal setting, timely rewards and assessments, corporate communication, financial literacy, budgeting for projects and personal use, small business accounting basics, how to pitch, how to plan, start-up basics, writing a business plan vs developing a business model.   

 Participants engage in several forms of advocacy: community education, facilitating training workshops, conducting issue specific research, interfacing with key legislators and stakeholders, and more. Our participants learn applied leadership skills, participating in the problem solving process by strategically engaging powers structures and positively building and changing systems of social, political, and economic influence.

 We utilize several  organizing models to provide the framework and detail the variables that determine our approach to advocacy and organizing. 

The GCI Youth Academy also offers best practice programs to incarcerated, supervised, post supervised, and high-risk youth ages 12-21. Word Diversion participants may participate in Greenhouse Forensics, Biz Rhetoric, Applied Organizing, or Learning & Leadership. Programming occurs within corrections institutions, court approved supervision sites, and on education campuses. Parents are encouraged to participate along with their children as much as possible. 

The GCI facilitates a comprehensive forensic program that includes instruction in all genres speech and debate (Policy/Public Forum/Value Debate, Limited Prep, Public Address, and Dramatic Interpretation) for any level of forensic competitors. Individualized coaching is available for all aspects of preparation and competition, including coaching preparation for beginners.