Youth Venture

Born May 18, 1997, you probably know her best as one of the original class members from the hit Fox TV Show "Are You Smarter than A 5th Grader?" What makes her amazing is that she has taken her celebrity and created a foundation, Alana’s Achievers, to help young kids between the ages of 4 and 16 develop positive goals in life and more importantly, help them work towards achieving their dreams. Achievers will focus on the importance of a good education and healthy lifestyle by promoting the benefits of a solid education, healthy eating habits and an active life that includes fitness.

After appearing on television, invitations to charity events both in Los Angeles and San Diego poured in. This afforded Alana the opportunity to help support worthy causes and make a positive contribution to her own community. She always felt more connected to those events in San Diego as it felt more like helping her neighbors and friends. Alana was able to personally meet the children and families affected by the disease and/or interact with the people the funds were being raised. With all that she did, Alana and her mother felt they could provide more in their own community of San Diego and it would be even more personal and meaningful. That is how Alana’s Achievers, under the 501 (c) (3) umbrella of Athletes for Education (AFE), began.

While it’s still a young program, Achievers proudly boasts implementing AFE’s Reading for Life program - a successful Reading Program - at Montgomery Elementary in Chula Vista as well as the Florence Griffith-Joyner Magnet School in San Diego with plans to expand to another three (3) San Diego schools in 2009. As an extra incentive to the 3rd grade classes she works with, Alana rewarded them each with the book of poems, “Dirt on My Shirt,” generously donated by her fellow actor, host of her show, Jeff Foxworthy. Alana visits the schools monthly to personally show her support and encouragement to the students. Her school and teachers are very supportive of Alana’s community involvement. One of the favorite aspects of her visits is how excited the kids are to see her – “it makes sense that kids are so excited to see the Chargers, but it’s huge that I get the same reception. It feels really good. I believe acquiring self-esteem and self-confidence, comes from having a support system which will help you be successful in life! When a person feels good about himself or herself, they will believe they can reach beyond the stars and can do anything they put their mind to.”

Alana was very excited to learn in June ‘09 that she was selected as the youngest national US Ambassador for Ashoka’s Youth Venture that awarded her a $1000 grant back in Feb ’09 to fund her scholarship program to assist youth who wish to participate in extra-curricular activities that require fees. Alana attended the National Youth Venture Summit in Boston at the end of June for training and workshops that were held at MIT and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. It was an amazing opportunity to meet teens from the U.S. and all over the world who are also young “changemakers” giving back in their communities as well!

Alana’s mom talks with such pride when she speaks about her daughter’s positive contributions to kids that are not much younger than Alana. They have big plans for Alana’s Achievers for 2009 and beyond including partnering with famous authors to secure book donations, creating scholarships for kids, and beginning a Santee Library Reading program. Expect nothing but incredible things from this young lady! Amazingly, that’s before she even becomes a teenager!

"I have been very fortunate to be able to pursue my dream to be an actress, my career has provided me the opportunity to have been cast a hit TV show, and meet many famous people, gone to really cool events, and giving back to my community. None of this would have ever been possible without the support and love from my family and friends. If I can make another child’s journey to their own personal stardom a little easier, or help only one child by mentoring them, or help with my program, then I will have accomplished an amazing goal. I have learned that it can be something as simple as a smile – to change a person’s life forever! “You Can Do Anything That You Can Dream!” ~ Alana Ethridge

• Other goals are acquiring major sponsors so that I can help more kids in my community and across the country, get my pilot on a major network and have another great scholastic year in 7th grade while continuing to pursue my acting career, playing soccer and bring even more awareness to Alana's Achievers!!!

Animaux, Développement Local, Citoyenneté locale, Education, Droits Humains, Alphabétisation, Mentorat, Vie Scolaire, Sports et Jeux