eXcel Youth Zone - Programs

Creating community leaders NOW

Excel Youth Zone (XYZ) facilitates and supports after-school service-learning clubs for youth kindergarten through twelfth grade. In XYZ's clubs, youth design, explore, and experience service projects to help meet real community needs. Excel Youth Zone's youth are redefining the roles of youth as resources and leaders in the community.

Youth can become a community leader through Excel Youth Zone as a club participant, a participant in our events and/or find resources and support for your own service activities with Excel Youth Zone's FREE Service-Learning Resource Toolkit.

Youth can participate in XYZ's afterschool clubs based on their interest. XYZ offers the following service-learning club options:

Youth Leadership:
Club XYZ
Club eXcel
PeaceJam
Green Footprints
Cesar Chavez Clubs

To become a part of a club or to have a club at your school or after school site, please contact Program Director, Jennifer Hamilton

Youth Leadership

In XYZ's youth leadership clubs, youth work in teams to organize service activities, demonstrate leadership skills and gain educational enrichment in the community. Youth have two leadership club options: Club XYZ & Club eXcel. XYZ facilitates these youth leadership clubs for elementary through high school utilizing the latest leadership and service-learning curriculum: Y.E.L.L, PYLI and PeaceJam.

PeaceJam

As the San Diego PeaceJam Chapter, Excel Youth Zone facilitates PeaceJam clubs for youth ages 5-18. Nobel Peace Laureates including Desmond Tutu, Dalai Lama, Oscar Arias, Aund San Sui Kyi, Mairead Corrigan McGuire, Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Jody Williams, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Jose Ramos-Horta, and Betty Williams created PeaceJam curriculum for youth to take action on some of the toughest challenges facing our planet.

Green Footprints

In Green Footprints Clubs, youth engage in the community to regenerate and conserve environmental assets which will lead to a greening� impact in nature. The work of the club culminates in the summer with youth traveling to Yosemite National Park to conduct real-world service-based research. Upon returning to their community, youth plan and implement environment service-learning projects in their community.

Cesar Chavez Clubs

In partnership with the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation, Excel Youth Zone provides youth the opportunity to learn about the life and 10 core values of Cesar E. Chavez, to examine the needs of their local community, to choose specific needs to address, and to plan and implement service projects that address those needs.