Summer Institute

Since the summer of 2000, Streets Ministries has offered intense academic instruction to some of the brightest young minds of Memphis through Summer Institute, a five week college preparatory program. The students accepted into the program have high aspirations of attending college and must write essays and undergo an interview process in order to be accepted. Summer Institute requires students to attend forty hours of class per week, emphasizes written and oral communication skills, and culminates with a week-in-residence at a college campus where the students are able to attend real college classes, eat in the cafeteria, and participate in other college experiences. In order to ensure that missed summer employment opportunities do not prevent students from participating in Summer Institute, each student is paid for their attendance. With the understanding that college is a dream of many of the students who live in the desperate neighborhoods that Streets ministers to, Streets' staff has designed Summer Institute to empower these students to make college a reality. The students are taught to write college application essays and properly conduct entrance interviews. College, in many ways, is the pivotal point in these student's lives. By working with underprivileged and underserved students in the Memphis area, Summer Institute aims to dismantle the cycle of poverty through higher education.