BROOKS' BUNCH AND BEYOND

In June of 2003, Brooks and 29 members of the Brooks' Bunch from the Belmont Heights, Ybor City, and Brandon Boys and Girls Clubs spent 11 days visiting several major U.S. cities, and toured colleges and universities in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, and Tallahassee, FL. Since November 2002, Brooks' Bunch students prepared themselves for the trip by attending bi-monthly classes taught by Hillsborough County public school teachers, which focused on how to prepare for college. The various goals of the trip were to prepare the kids for life after high school, introduce them to the vital role of community service, and provide them the necessary life skills such as creating cover letters, writing resumes, and improving their job interviewing skills. Students earned spots on the trip by writing essays, completing research assignments, and successfully navigating their way through an interview process in front of a panel of judges. All assignments, along with the students' attendance and behavioral marks during the classes, were tabulated and counted towards a final grade for the class and those who successfully completed all assignments, demonstrated good behavior, and maintained above average grades in their respective schools earned airline tickets for the 11-day trip which included stops at Vibe Magazine, the Fashion Institute of Technology, the Julliard School of Arts, the Empire State Building, and NFL headquarters located at 280 Park Avenue in New York City. After three days in New York City, the itinerary moved to Chicago where members of the Brooks' Bunch took in a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field and later toured Loyola University. Following Chicago, Brooks and his crew moved on to Atlanta for three days where they visited the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center of Non-Violence, Georgia Tech University, and Thomas, Kennedy, Sampson and Patterson, the oldest minority law firm in the southeast before ending the trip in Tallahassee, FL where they visited and toured Brooks' alma mater - Florida State University.

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