Now in its sixth year, the Road to Excellence (RTE) Leadership Development Program reaches teens on a personal level to develop teens that are abstinent, resilient, and confident. The groups offer nearly 500 students the opportunity to meet weekly to encourage good decision-making, help students develop and strengthen their leadership skills, and reinforce students’ sense of value and self-worth. Hands-on activities, field trips, poetry and essay contests, and volunteer opportunities build on the weekly
meetings, allowing teens to become critical thinkers and exercise leadership skills. Each year, the Road to Excellence program expands to add new elements identified by the students.
The Road to Excellence Leadership Curriculum is available for purchase. Click here to view available Why Know curricula.
Firmly believing that the support system provided through
RTE groups is essential for teens who are committed to remaining
sexually abstinent until marriage, Why
Know hopes to extend this program into perhaps 19 total area schools by 2010. Currently, the RTE program is at work in the following Chattanooga-area schools:
Hamilton, Catoosa, and Walker County Public Schools:
If your school is not currently among those utilizing the RTE program, kindly contact your school administrators and encourage them! Why Know works with students by school invitation only, and we would be happy to extend this important tool and service to as many of our young people as possible!
Reading Groups / Textuality
In the past two years, the great need for our students to develop strong reading skills and habits has become increasingly evident. For this reason, in 2006 Why Know began developing a special literacy
component to build into our RTE groups. At essence, we are endeavoring to incorporate more and more text into our groups--providing books to students in which characters deal with issues confronting many of our own students, allowing them to read about their own lives through the life of a fictional character. We are working to structure the use of text within our RTE programs--text in the form of song lyrics, poetry, books and short stories, even newspaper and magazine articles. Good readers make better critical thinkers, and critical thinking is crucial to our teenagers making wise and healthy choices!
As part of our effort to help kids read, Why Know has created a simple bookmark to give to students and adults alike. We hope it reminds everyone of the power and importance of reading! (For your own bookmark, just click the link below and print/laminate some for you and your friends!)
meetings, allowing teens to become critical thinkers and exercise leadership skills. Each year, the Road to Excellence program expands to add new elements identified by the students.
Hamilton, Catoosa, and Walker County Public Schools: 
component to build into our RTE groups. At essence, we are endeavoring to incorporate more and more text into our groups--providing books to students in which characters deal with issues confronting many of our own students, allowing them to read about their own lives through the life of a fictional character. We are working to structure the use of text within our RTE programs--text in the form of song lyrics, poetry, books and short stories, even newspaper and magazine articles. Good readers make better critical thinkers, and critical thinking is crucial to our teenagers making wise and healthy choices! 
