The after school program offered by the Metropolitan YMCA of Mississippi in Vicksburg is one more tool available to parents to help their children succeed in the future.

A joint effort by the Metro Y and the Mississippi Department of Human Services, the Community Youth Career Development Center in Warren County is open to youth ages 12 to 18 and can provide two things to help these children have a better chance at succeeding in school and in life. It provides them not only a place where they can get tutoring for those school subjects in which they are having problems, it also provides a structured environment during a time when children might be more prone to get into trouble if they were left to themselves.

“We pick the children up in a small school bus and bring them to the center, and we will bring them home,” said Laura McCallum, the program’s Warren County coordinator.

“They have some time for snacks and cooling down, and then tutoring, and we will have some life skills.

“We address issues like anger management, time management, building self-esteem, health issues, relaxation techniques, anti-bullying.”

McCallum said similar programs are in Hinds and Adams counties, and Tupelo and Grenada, and have been successful.

Programs like the Metro Y’s program are sorely needed and unfortunately very few, because in the world we now live in, many children are growing up in an environment where more often than not, they are coming home from school to an empty home, and that can be a problem.

We applaud the Metropolitan YMCA of Mississippi for its efforts to provide this program and hope parents will take advantage of it.