This past month, our IYT brothers at Mills Middle School reminded us that small, consistent efforts yield meaningful returns.
We watched young men grow—not just in grades, but in discipline, creativity, and resilience. From GPA gains that reflect hours of determination, to painted mascots that symbolized bright collegiate futures, our brothers closed out the school year by investing in themselves.
They celebrated milestones not with extravagance, but with intention—handmade goodie bags, peer recognition, and a sense of community you can’t fake. These experiences are seeds. Given time and care, they’ll grow into something remarkable.
That’s the long view—and we’re proud to be part of it.
Special Occasion Spotlight
Mills Graduating IYT 8th graders
As our brothers move on to the next chapter of their lives, we wanted to celebrate each and every one of them. Our 8th graders all received a slideshow presentation of all the memories we made in IYT. Every 8th grader also went home with a goodie bag made by Shaq that contained snacks, hygiene products, notebooks, pencils, mini handheld games, college stickers, and more!! We ended the day with Winsgtop, music, a video game tournament, and a lot of snacks, after which almost every student went home with a sugar crash or food coma.
Academic Achievement Spotlight
Jayden Mitchell, 7th Grader
King Jermaine Newman, 6th Grader
Jayden Mitchell, 7th grader, and King Jermaine Newman, 6th grader. These two young men have had a great semester by showing up in their classes and coming after school during IYT to finish work and get extra support. Jayden has brought his GPA up from a 2.50 to a 2.83. King has brought his GPA up from a 2.17 to a 2.50. We wanted to end the year off with a bang, so we got them some special prizes!!
Workshop Spotlight
Winner of the best Mascot also received extra snacks, competition was very high.
To creatively cap off the semester, our final IYT workshop invited brothers to paint their collegiate dreams! Each student received a mini canvas and paints, diving into research to depict the full mascot – not just the logo – of their dream college, using its vibrant official colors. The aim was for the brothers to create a personal, artistic representation of their future aspirations, a mascot to inspire them on their journey towards higher education. The atmosphere was buzzing with creativity and school spirit, as brothers had a blast bringing their mascots to life and engaging in spirited, friendly debates about their chosen institutions. These mini masterpieces now serve as colorful reminders of their ambitions!
Final results of the paintings.
Brother of the Month
Denali Lyons
7th Grade
Denali has been deserving of brother of the month all year. He is one of our newest brothers who joined us in January and hit our classroom running the day he started. He is very shy and reserved, but takes care of business. He had a small hiccup in the month of March, but it did not stop him from reaching his goals. He accumulated a 3.75 GPA, and we cannot be prouder.
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