Improve Your Tomorrow (IYT) is a nonprofit organization that specializes in making sure that young men, especially those of color, have the opportunity and resources to attend and graduate from college and university.
The program started in Sacramento CA, in 2013, by Michael Lynch and Michael Casper, both men of color, who sought out to face systematic barriers such as the school-to-prison pipeline acording to IYT.org.
Jazz Swanson is the program manager at both Edison and here at Stagg. His goal is to “influence the young men of Stockton to not only become better scholars, but better men as well,” as explained in the “My Why” section of his profile on https://www.improveyourtomorrow.org
“Everybody that works through this program…we’re all on the same mission,” Swanson says.
Out of 30 million men of color in the country, only 9.9 million of those men attend college. The staff of Improve Your Tomorrow strive to improve those numbers.
“Our vision is to make sure to have a nation in which they’re over-represented in the higher education system and under-represented in the criminal justice system” said Swanson.
Swanson plans to make the program a long term project here at Stagg and across the district. “We were given a contract by SUSD for three years, every day I come here, that’s my goal. I wake up in a great mood to give the kids the resources they have because I want to get this contract renewed,” said Swanson.
Swanson plans to be active in our Stagg community as well as Emerson Jimenez.
Jimenez, who chose not to be photographed, is a lead mentor and plans to be specifically established here at Stagg. He has been working in the program for the past year but he has been here at Stagg for the last month. Jimenez hopes to provide these young men with the support they need to become successful.
“My goal for the program is to build great relationships with the brothers and to help them to complete their goals and to be there for as much as I can be there for.”
While Swanson manages both Edison and Stagg, Jimenez will be here to provide for young men. The IYT program can be found in the classroom by the Student Store during lunch.
