Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership & Sustainability: Summer Program for High School Students at UF

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your interest in our pre-college summer program. Each summer, since 2007, we have hosted a group of high school students for six weeks here at the University of Florida. In fact, we now have 112 Alumni who are studying at colleges and universities across the nation. Our Alumni tell us that the Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership &Sustainability Summer Program (YELS) is an informative, exciting, inspiring, and life changing experience. It is not summer camp-- where students hang out, enjoying the long, lazy days of summer. YELS participants are busy. Every day they take two college-level courses, do community service, and have an evening activity. Yes, there is free time for rest, relaxation, and reflection, but YELS students stay busy, as they tell us they accomplish more during their short stay at YELS than they do during a typical school year. Last year our 42 students together completed more than 4312 hours of community service. Diversity is very important to us. In the past, at least half of our students have received full or partial scholarships. At YELS we don't just talk about entrepreneurship, leadership, and sustainability-- we actually do it. In 2010 we ran the program entirely carbon-neutral; consumed 20.451 and offset 21.7 tons = 1.249 tons of extra carbon offsets, so not only was our footprint zero, we actually offset 1.249 tons extra.

SAFETY

We are concerned about the health and safety of the Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership &Sustainability Summer Program participants. We make a strong effort to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students both while they are on campus and while they are in the community, including:

- Selecting excellent, skilled staff members. The Young Entrepreneurs for Leadership &Sustainability Summer Program staff includes high achieving, well-trained, motivated leaders who who have experience and interest in entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and community service. We have hired the most qualified instructors, program coordinators, and resident assistants (RAs) to staff the program. We are also fortunate to have a team of outstanding volunteers including distinguished faculty and staff of UF's Center for Entrepreneurship &Innovation, special guest speakers, and talented UF alumni mentors.

- Partnering with respected local community agencies and organizations for the community service placements. Each community partner has been approved by UF's Center for Leadership &Service and has a strong reputation. Students will be given an orientation educating them about potential risks that may exist while volunteering and precautions they can take to minimize this risk to the greatest extent possible.

- Providing appropriate supervision. While students are ultimately responsible for their own conduct, our administrative, instructional, and residential staff all work together to provide clear guidelines and reasonable supervision. The student to staff ratio is 6:1, or less. Students are not permitted to leave campus unsupervised.

MEDICAL CARE

Accepted students are required to submit a set of medical forms, including verification of medical insurance coverage and immunization records. Students who become ill or injured will be taken to a local immediate or emergency care center for treatment.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

If your student needs accommodations for a learning, physical, medical, dietary, or mental health issue, you must contact notify us as soon as possible so that we can arrange for appropriate accommodations to be provided. Documentation must include the diagnosis of the disability, specific functional limitations for both academic and residential settings, and recommended accommodations.

We have limited the space available for 2012 to just 36 students. We encourage your student to apply as soon as possible, in order to increase their likelihood of being accepted. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.

With excitement,