Texas Southern YIP 2012

In its first year, the YIP program at the Texas Southern University located in Houston, Texas served 44 at-risk youth. Texas Southern University and the surrounding community are deeply connected. Research programs are completed for surrounding industries, and current students and alumni keep the Houston community alive with their innovative ideas and outreach programs.

Texas Southern University is home to more than 9,500 students in more than 300 undergraduate and graduates academic programs. It is the leading public research university in the vibrant international city of Houston The Houston Independent School District, with more than 202,000 students and encompassing 301 square miles within greater Houston, is the seventh-largest public-school system in the nation and the largest in Texas. The Houston Unified School District has very high dropout rates for older students with more than twice the number of students in elementary school (107,508) as they have in high school (47,704).

Texas Southern University in its first year had amazing success due to the variety of stakeholders in the program. Some of the highlights of the camp included a visit to the Houston Texans’ practice facilities, a visit to the Houston Astros’ Minute Maid Park, and visits to the camp itself from Representative Shelia Jackson Lee.