Paul Savramis Praises the Rising Stars / Greater South Bay YMCA Outreach Program on Long Island

In the fall of 2016, the Rising Stars Youth Foundation  launched a pilot program to deal with the many challenges facing schools on Long Island’s Greater South Bay area. Rising Stars founder and community outreach director Paul Savramis credits the cooperation of local leaders and applauds the GSB YMCA for the programs incredible  success in its first year.

Gang violence in the Great South Bay area of Long Island is a problem that has attracted national attention and special visits from the president of the United States.

It’s a problem that touches children as young as 10 years old and stays with them throughout a lifetime. In cooperation with the Great South Bay YMCA, Rising Stars and Paul Savramis initiated the area’s first afterschool programs that combined academic social and community service support with a national basketball program. The program, which also offers children membership in the YMCA and access to the Rising Stars’ academic scholarship pool, is the flagship program for all of Rising Stars Community Outreach Initiatives. Savramis explains that all children enrolled in the program are required to improve school attendance, perform community service projects, and improve their overall GPAs to remain in the programs.

According to Paul Savramis, the new program was designed by experts to be both scalable and sustainable and show measurable results and progress almost immediately. Initial results from the Greater South Bay program are very promising. All students enrolled in the program showed a marked rise in grade point averages and overall improvements in their self-esteem, concentration, and leadership skills.

In the months following the launch, the inaugural group of 20 sixth grade boys student athletes have become a shining example of what positive interaction and a positive supporting environment can do for at-risk youth. After just six months of working together, the team has emerged victorious in three local tournaments and won top honors in one regional tournament. Paul Savramis says this on-court success mirrors their off-court accomplishments.

The program has been so successful that it has spawned multiple requests from local and city leaders as well as parents, teachers, and athletic directors to offer programs for fourth and fifth grade boys and a girls program. The program will also expand to other Long Island YMCAs.

Paul Savramis founded Rising Stars in 1996. Now following its 20th anniversary celebration, Rising Stars has expanded into The Rising Stars Youth Foundation: one of the most respected youth intervention programs in the nation, helping countless at-risk students avoid the temptations of drugs, alcohol, and gangs.