Velocity is Love Your City in schools. Learn how it began and what makes it powerfully effective.
WATCH moreIn 2010, the University of Texas-San Antonio's mentoring expert Dr. Michael Karcher invited Boy With a Ball to team with him in implementing a cross age mentoring program designed by him. The program was named Velocity and launched in January of 2011 with 34 high school mentors meeting with their middle school mentees in weekly afterschool sessions at the high school. Over the past nine years, Velocity has grown across the U.S. and the world with the same life changing impact on both the mentors, the mentees and their families, who are invited into the program in quarterly Super Saturdays and periodic family engagement visits. Velocity utilizes developmental mentoring relationships that increase the mentors, mentees and their families' connectedness to family, their school, to their community and to a positive vision for their future. Velocity is built around a published program manual, training manual and curriculum written by Dr. Karcher. The program is listed on the Department of Justice's list of promising practices and is strengthened by Dr. Karcher's support of program monitoring and evaluation.
One of the most diverse counties in the country, Velocity Gwinnett is our biggest Velocity program and a vibrant part of our work in Atlanta.
In the Southside of San Antonio, Velocity Harlandale is our original mentoring program and has grown into other schools across the area.
Our first international implementation, Velocity Kenya is located in multiple sites across the country.
Velocity is a life-changing, cross-age mentoring program that develops high school students to mentor middle school students. Velocity isn’t just life-changing for the students. Velocity is an opportunity for your business to meaningfully engage your community and introduce the importance of mentoring within your company culture. Bring mentoring to your workplace and increase employee volunteerism.
