Our Be Smart Core Values block is the keystone of our program. We work together with our middle school student champs to internalize and apply these values in all of our thoughts and actions in the first eight weeks of our school year. Our Be Smart Mantras help us remember TO BE SMART!

  • Be Self-Aware: I have an awareness of my own personality, my
    individuality. I have true self awareness and self respect. I understand and accept there are viable ways of handling situations in a positive manner.
  • Be Mindful: I am someone who pays attention in order to learn, grow, and
    make good decisions. I maintain a moment-by-moment awareness of my thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens.
  • Be Accountable & Authentic: Accountable- I am willing to accept responsibility for my own actions. Authentic- I am honest with myself and with others, and I take responsibility for my mistakes. My values, ideals, and actions align.
  • Be Responsible & Respectful: I am someone with the capacity for making smart
    decisions, being accountable, and being reliable in all situations. I show kindness and regard for someone and something.
  • Be Tenacious: I am someone with a vision. I am someone who is constantly planning and working to achieve my vision.

Our Art Exploration block is an eight week unit in our middle school program. We believe it is important to allow our students to explore the importance of art in lives.

Throughout this unit we explore the following topics:

  • Art History
  • Commons Types of Art
  • Majors and Minors in Art
  • Careers in Art

We also engage in hands on experiences with our students such as pottery, painting, glass work, visits to the Art Institute of Chicago, and other galleries.

Throughout this block we work in our small groups to create a Roadmap to Success. Each week our student members will explore new ideas that will help shape their future goals and dreams. Their hard work will help them visualize their futures. They will create a tangible plan to guide them to a successful future.

Students will be guided through a backwards by design approach to exploring their futures and inspiring their hopes and dreams. We begin by evaluating our career aspirations their interests inventories. This leads to researching each career and identifying the type of education required to achieve this career. Once we identify the type of education needed for each desired career we research key attributes, such as proximity to a particular location, costs, size, and fields of study offered at each institution. This leads us to identifying types of high school education needed to pursue a higher education.

This is a wonderful tool to help inspire, plan, and generate goals with our students for fruitful path to success.

Social and Emotional Check-Ins

Healthy thinking means looking at the entire situation—the positive, the negative and the neutral parts—and then coming to a conclusion. In other words, healthy thinking means looking at life and the world in a balanced way. We provide a safe space for our student champs to check in with their feelings in a meaningful way each day.

We believe giving our students the tools to see life in a balanced way they can be aware of their thought patterns and identify negative thinking and begin to shift these habits, with a set of tools, to adapt a more healthy way of thinking and responding to people, places and events.

We use several tools for checkin in with our students:

  • Emoji
  • Paint chip
  • Meditation
  • Body Scan
  • Breath-work
  • Music

Our students obtain and develop specific tools for healthy thinking. They apply these tools to their daily lives and evaluate the impact through written reflection.

Our students become responsible for observing their own thoughts and actions, reflecting on how to pop negative thinking and recognizing how healthy thoughts lead to healthy actions.


Our Mindfulness in Meditation block is an eight week unit in our middle school program. We believe it is important to allow our students to explore the importance of meditation in their lives. (2024)

  • History of Meditation

  • Benefits of Meditation

  • Practices

  • Journaling with meditation

  • Guided meditation

  • Visit meditation center

* Bring in mindfulness coach to launch

Our Media and Technology block is an eight week unit in our middle school program. We believe it is important to allow our students to explore the importance of media and technology in their lives. (2024)

  • Navigating Towers Website and creating a Student page

  • Start a YouTube Channel for Towers

  • Write weekly updates with specific topics

  • Post bi-weekly

*Bringing in a media specialist to help creating YouTube Channel

Our Young Authors block is an eight week unit in our middle school program. We believe it is important to allow our students to explore the importance of writing in their lives. (2024)

  • Research styles of writing

  • Creating a newsletter to post on Website and share with Towers team

  • Design newsletter template

  • Interviews, OpEds, News

*Bring in writer & publisher to discuss tools and tips



Our Young Activists block is an eight week unit in our middle school program. We believe it is important to allow our students to explore the importance of social awareness and taking action on matters that are meaningful in their lives. (2024)

  • History of activism

  • Selecting an issue to support

  • Researching the issue

  • Creating a campaign

  • Promoting campaign

  • Writing letters to your congressman

*Bringing in congress person and/or activist in the community

Our Rhythm Exploration block is an eight week unit in our middle school program. We believe it is important to allow our students to explore the importance of rhythm and movement in their lives. (2024)

  • History of Music

  • Song writing

  • Rhythm & Beats

  • Prose writing and speaking

  • Software for Mixing Music

*Bringing in musician(s) to launch this block.

  • Learn about the body Dance

  • Muntu

  • Jazz

  • Tap

  • Ballet

  • Hip Hop

  • Yoga

*Bringing in professional dancer or yoga instruction to lead a class or two.

Our mission is to provide our high school students with high quality mentoring through academic guidance, social and emotional support, service and experiential learning opportunities. Our vision is to support and prepare our youth to live a satisfying life and have a promising future.

  • Provides financial and mentor support to students seeking a higher education.
  • Designed to meet the financial, academic, social and emotional needs of our members.
  • Member Support:
    • Time Management
    • Stress Management
    • Study Skills
    • Money Management
    • Assertiveness Skills
    • Well-Developed Self Care Skills
    • Keeping Safe and Avoiding Risky Behaviors
  • All members will create a schedule of support with their mentor and staff support person.
  • Recipients will remain with Towers for internship and career opportunities, with the ultimate goal of them continuing on as mentors- Cycle of Success.
  • Towers scholarship application is complete and available on Google forms.
  • Monies will be paid directly to admissions department of the university.