McGavock High School students donate proceeds from a profitable company they started to You Have the Power

On Wednesday, May 4, high school students from McGavock High School's Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee's Company Program presented YHTP's Founder Andrea Conte and Executive Director Cathy Gurley with a check in the amount of $450. (Pictured left to right below: YHTP Founder Andrea Conte, Cristian Duran, Alyssa Selley, D'Arrikya Fields, Destiny Hill, YHTP Executive Director Cathy Gurley, Maria Navarro and Senior Program Manager for TVA Economic Development Jerome Terrell).

The funds were raised when the students developed their own business venture from inception to liquidation to profit as a collaborative project. Volunteer business leaders in the community provided guidance to ensure that the McGavock students learned skills relevant to finding success in future business endeavors.

Said Gurley, "These students are truly special. Most of them have already experienced violence in their young lives, and after attending Mayor Megan Barry's youth violence summit earlier this year, they decided that they wanted to help other teens in similar situations by sharing the profits from their business. So, they literally searched the Internet and chose us because of the programs we take into the schools about bullying, acquaintance rape and victim impact."   

YHTP congratulates the Junior Achievement students on their performance. We will use the donation to continue developing a powerful curriculum with the focus on behavior modification for at-risk youth in their honor.

You Have the Power partners with various civic leaders, organizations, colleges and schools to emphasize the impact of bullying

Recently, YHTP joined with Judge Angelita Dalton and the Nashville Chapter of The Links, Inc., in galvanizing KIPP Academy's Rosebud group to “Rise Above Bullying.” We also took the bullying program to Baila dance studio students through collaboration with the Hispanic Family Foundation.

During the 2015 academic year, 1 out of every 4 students reported being bullied (National Bullying Prevention Center). PLEASE join us in breaking down bullying!