For over 25 years, Boost! has provided intensive academic and social support for elementary school students in West Oakland, one of the Bay Area’s most underserved neighborhoods. Our mission is to empower West Oakland youth with the skills and confidence needed to become positive contributors to society. Boost! fosters healthy attitudes toward learning and strengthens students’ academic performance and self-esteem through individualized one-on-one tutoring and mentoring, field trips, and family events. Boost! steps up to meet diverse student needs by matching each child with a trained volunteer tutor/mentor whose role is to provide intensive, individualized academic and social-emotional support for a year or more. For many of the children this is the only time that they have such a high level of dedicated, positive attention from an adult, and the effect can be life-changing. As one Boost! graduate (now a university student) said, “School always seemed like a big escape for me from everything else that was going on at home and in the world. School was like the haven, the sanctuary. I wanted to excel, but if you don't really have the tools to do it there's only so far you can go. Boost! gave me the tools I needed.” Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boosttutoring