YESPhilly is many things

YESPhilly is a place for young adults who have dropped out of school to get an education and support to get into college or get a job.  Everyone at YESPhilly also participates in our media arts studios, and has counseling support.  We help students make key changes that put them on the path to success. Students take academic courses at their levels, including basic, GED and pre-college classes.   

YESPhilly classes are small, and designed to be fast-paced and interesting. Media arts studio courses are a place to learn by doing, and tap into everyone’s creativity.

Executive Director's Corner

With YESPhilly celebrating our 10^th Anniversary, I’ve been thinking about why the work we do is so important to me.  I trace my passion for “high school dropouts” back to the chance I had to get to know young adults who were “running the streets.”  What I learned from them was how complex each human is, and how changeable people are.  Gang members who were involved with drugs and violence had people that they loved, and had times when they were ready to try something new that might move them into a better life. 

Knowing these basic facts, I got interested in creating ways to re-engage youth who did not succeed in our school system—to bring out their passion for learning and provide opportunities for them to gain the skills they’d need to be productive adults. 

Sometimes we have big successes, and students earn their GEDs, get jobs, or go to college.  Of course this is satisfying to me, but my biggest rewards are every day.  At YESPhilly I see students who have a sense of their own value, know that they want to learn, and are moving toward a positive future.  I see these students everywhere I go, and I get to work with a group of adults who are committed to supporting and developing this group of remarkable youth.  That is why this work is still fresh for me after 10 years.

-Taylor Frome, Executive Director