Chess
The chess programming offered at Legacy Institute is a great educational opportunity that reinforces critical thinking and mathematical reasoning skills. Our research team discovered that 72% of former students looked forward to attending school on the days when chess was played. Additionally, they discovered that 70% of students believe their chess class taught them the value of working hard to accomplish their goals. 68% of students feel more confident in their ability to learn more challenging subjects after completing this course. Finally, 71% of students indicated that they are more likely to challenge themselves in the future. While learning to play the game, students also strengthen problem solving, decision making, creative thinking and planning skills. These are great skills that will benefit the students throughout their entire lives.
Credit
The Legacy Institute offers the credit/financial literacy course for students to build a strong financial foundation that they can build on as adults. The students learned the basics of earning, saving and budgeting money. They also learned about the importance of money and how credit impacts their buying power. The students have shown their knowledge and understanding of how to manage their money. They were taught the differences between needs and wants and introduced to the concept of financial independence. Throughout the course, participants learned about the benefits of being fiscally responsible and building great credit with timely payments and not overextending themselves.
Debate
Legacy Institute’s debate courses build student’s verbal and written communication skills. Great communication skills are beneficial to the students’ future academic, social and professional growth. Participants in this debate course will build their vocabulary, critical thinking and communication skills. These are some of the foundational skills of great leadership. Research on debate has shown that people who take debate are more likely to graduate and score higher on their ACT (Anderson and Muzuk, 2012). Specifically, 72% of students who took a debate course graduated from high school in comparison to 43% of students who did not (Anderson and Muzuk, 2012). Overall, debate courses are an essential component in the growth and development of our young future leaders.
History
Black history is world history and should be taught to all students. Our black history course concentrates on past and current contributions of African Americans in our society and throughout the world. Students learn about the positive and invaluable contributions to science, math, education, law, medicine and entertainment. Despite the racism and oppression that African American people have endured, they have managed to survive and thrive in this world. Our students learn how their ancestors persevered through harsh and inhumane treatment. They gain a new respect for the freedoms they have in their daily life activities. As people learn about the collective suffering, survival, tenacity and ingenuity of their ancestors, it helps to build bonds, love and empathy for one another. It also helps to build self-respect, self-esteem and build courage in our young people as well as adults to pursue any and all of their dreams. Dr. Carter G Woodson once said in The Mis-Education of the Negro, “History shows that it does not matter who is in power or what revolutionary forces take over the government, those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they had in the beginning.” We share these important pieces of the African American experience to highlight our past but also to illuminate the limitless future possibilities for our youth.
Leadership
Our leadership courses teach the youth the importance of being a leader. They also learn about the qualities of a great leader: visionary, honest, perseverance, trust, integrity, willingness to listen, good communicator, accountable, decision maker, collaborative, ability to delegate and much more. They are introduced to community and world leaders. We share the benefits of and encourage our young students to participate in student council, diversity clubs, and church groups. The older students are given information about fraternity and sorority groups, civic engagement and other ways to become more active in their communities. Our course teaches and develops skills that will benefit students for a lifetime.
The chess programming offered at Legacy Institute is a great educational opportunity that reinforces critical thinking and mathematical reasoning skills. Our research team discovered that 72% of former students looked forward to attending school on the days when chess was played. Additionally, they discovered that 70% of students believe their chess class taught them the value of working hard to accomplish their goals. 68% of students feel more confident in their ability to learn more challenging subjects after completing this course. Finally, 71% of students indicated that they are more likely to challenge themselves in the future. While learning to play the game, students also strengthen problem solving, decision making, creative thinking and planning skills. These are great skills that will benefit the students throughout their entire lives.
Credit
The Legacy Institute offers the credit/financial literacy course for students to build a strong financial foundation that they can build on as adults. The students learned the basics of earning, saving and budgeting money. They also learned about the importance of money and how credit impacts their buying power. The students have shown their knowledge and understanding of how to manage their money. They were taught the differences between needs and wants and introduced to the concept of financial independence. Throughout the course, participants learned about the benefits of being fiscally responsible and building great credit with timely payments and not overextending themselves.
Debate
Legacy Institute’s debate courses build student’s verbal and written communication skills. Great communication skills are beneficial to the students’ future academic, social and professional growth. Participants in this debate course will build their vocabulary, critical thinking and communication skills. These are some of the foundational skills of great leadership. Research on debate has shown that people who take debate are more likely to graduate and score higher on their ACT (Anderson and Muzuk, 2012). Specifically, 72% of students who took a debate course graduated from high school in comparison to 43% of students who did not (Anderson and Muzuk, 2012). Overall, debate courses are an essential component in the growth and development of our young future leaders.
History
Black history is world history and should be taught to all students. Our black history course concentrates on past and current contributions of African Americans in our society and throughout the world. Students learn about the positive and invaluable contributions to science, math, education, law, medicine and entertainment. Despite the racism and oppression that African American people have endured, they have managed to survive and thrive in this world. Our students learn how their ancestors persevered through harsh and inhumane treatment. They gain a new respect for the freedoms they have in their daily life activities. As people learn about the collective suffering, survival, tenacity and ingenuity of their ancestors, it helps to build bonds, love and empathy for one another. It also helps to build self-respect, self-esteem and build courage in our young people as well as adults to pursue any and all of their dreams. Dr. Carter G Woodson once said in The Mis-Education of the Negro, “History shows that it does not matter who is in power or what revolutionary forces take over the government, those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they had in the beginning.” We share these important pieces of the African American experience to highlight our past but also to illuminate the limitless future possibilities for our youth.
Leadership
Our leadership courses teach the youth the importance of being a leader. They also learn about the qualities of a great leader: visionary, honest, perseverance, trust, integrity, willingness to listen, good communicator, accountable, decision maker, collaborative, ability to delegate and much more. They are introduced to community and world leaders. We share the benefits of and encourage our young students to participate in student council, diversity clubs, and church groups. The older students are given information about fraternity and sorority groups, civic engagement and other ways to become more active in their communities. Our course teaches and develops skills that will benefit students for a lifetime.