Dear Friends,

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     It's amazing how fast the second term of this administration is flying by under the leadership of Mayor Jim Strickland. The momentum of City Government is truly in place. I want to thank my wonderful staff for their continuous endless work under my leadership. I would like to also thank Mayor Jim Strickland for being a strong and true advocate for empowering our youth to reach their full potential. Under this administration, the Memphis Office of Youth Services has increased summer employment by 100 percent.

We at the Memphis Office of Youth Services (MOYS) are dedicated and committed to shaping our young people to be productive law-abiding individuals in society. We want to provide every possible opportunity for the youth of this city to reach their highest potential and success. For us to reach this goal, my staff and I need the continuous support of our businesses, faith-based communities and most of all parents, to assist us with the development of our youth.

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     Although we had to deal with COVID-19 over the past year, MOYS continued to serve our youth virtually by providing a rigorous and challenging hard/soft skills paid training program. As we are preparing for summer 2022, we want to ensure our businesses and places of employment that our youth are well prepared to work.

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     MOYS has implemented a new program called "l AM INCLUDED" that embraces our exceptional youth by providing the same opportunities as our typical youth. We also have created a game show, that will debut later this year, called "DO YOU REALLY KNOW MEMPHIS?" an interactive trivia game show educating Memphis Youth on Memphis history, political leaders, entertainment, sports, famous landmarks and much more. One of the most exciting events MOYS brought to our city this was the MidSouth Golden Gloves Regional Boxing Tournament that hasn't been in Memphis since 1969. What's more exciting, we will host this event again in 2022.

 

Other programs are:

MAP GLOBAL- The Memphis Office of Youth Services' MAP Program and the Tarik Black Foundation partnering with students at GHIS High School in Tel Aviv Israel to implement the MAP structure to students abroad.

TRUE BLUE TUESDAYS- A collaboration with the Memphis Police Department helping students understand the law, law enforcement and their individual rights. This is also a recruitment tool for students interested in MPD.

MOYS INSTITUTE- Part of the MPLOY program for 14-15-year-old students in preparing them with hard and soft skills needed to be employable and marketable.

As you can see, MOYS has been truly busy with our youth. We look forward to another productive year. We ask for your prayers and support as we continue to empower our youth for positive results.

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Sincerely,

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Ike Griffith, Ed.D.

Special Assistant to Mayor Jim Strickland

Director of the Memphis Office of Youth Services and Director of Community Affairs