A two-week energetic and engaging experience for teens who are looking for ways to influence their world, The aCHIeve Summer Experience combines the arts with evidence-based therapeutic techniques and exciting guest teachers and expert staff. The combination makes this program truly effective, accessible and relatable to the everyday life of each participant. Through a blend of arts, advocacy and mental health focuses, these 12-18 year olds will gain a deeper understanding of their response to stress and be empowered to advocate for their own mental health.

The goal is to have this summer experience fully funded so that no child will be turned away. The aCHIeve Project wants to empower students of ALL genders/identities and shades. They need ALL those voices…those that are loud, those that are quiet and all those in-between.

The aCHIeve Summer Experience participant will:

• Learn effective communication skills
• Develop comprehensive self-awareness
• Develop self-identity
• Practice conflict management
• Navigate complex social connections
• Learn stress management techniques
• Sharpen interpersonal skills
• Understand and develop empathy
• Engage the mind/body connection

At aCHIeve, we recognize that the lives and obstacles of our teens look different than our own. We see a need in the community for a call to action that will help our kids. We acknowledge that there are lots of therapeutic opportunities, leadership tracks, and school programs which address mental health concerns but we also fully recognize the gap in how teens implement said skills into their everyday lives.

We are confident that The aCHIeve Project is the most creative, progressive, multifaceted, and practical program to meet the needs of our teens in this ever-changing landscape. We are thrilled to bring it to the community this summer in The aCHIeve Summer Experience and are in the works to implement the program in Montgomery County Public Schools and other youth-oriented outlets.