Leadership Academy
The destination program of every teen's journey.
July 11-15
UMass Amherst
91%
"BEST week OF MY LIFE."
91% of students rate Leadership Academy as the most life-changing experience they've ever had. (the other 9% rate it in the top 3).
87%
Increased positive identity
87% of students experience an increase in self worth.
90%
Increased Confidence
90% of students experienced
an increase in self-confidence.
100%
Increased Happiness
100% of students experienced
an increase in genuine happiness.
New England's premier leadership & mindset camp for empowering teens.
"I now tell people it must have been a camp related to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to work the magic that was clearly worked on my son. I am forever thankful!"
-2021 Parent
ABOUT
Leadership Academy is a transformative summer program directed by award-winning educator, coach, and leadership education pioneer, Evren Gunduz Ed.M. and his all-star staff of Leadership Academy graduates and founders. Combining a high energy team-building model with a social emotional learning based curriculum, this life-changing experience teaches teens the art of living with high self worth, maintaining a positive attitude, and achieving perpetual success in all they do now and into their future. We equip our students with the tools, methods, and community to lead themselves and empower others.
Absolutely life changing. It was the most powerful week of my life and I recommend it to anyone I've ever met.
Lily
Academy Teen '18, '19, '21
You guys are teaching them not only about leading other people, but how to be happy with yourself. How to understand your circumstances. How to deal with those things and move forward.
Devin McCourty
New England Patriots
Leadership Academy Logistics
Location
UMass, Amherst
UMass provides a world class facility in which our teens to develop their leadership toolkit. We eat in the Nation's #1 ranked dining hall, sleep in the dorms, get to learn in state of the art classrooms, and have access to the campuses amenities and beautiful landscape in the foothills of the Berkshires. Living at a college expands teens' comfort zones, grows their independence, and gives them an advantage in their confidence.
Dates
Monday July 11 - Friday July 15
Eligibility
Open to all rising 10th-12th graders
Graduation years: 2023, 2024, 2025
Staff
3:1 student to staff ratio
All of our staff are Leadership Academy Graduates ready to give the life-changing experience to the next generation. They consist of college students and young professionals who use their Leadership Academy experience to succeed in life. All have passed their CORI and SORI checks.
DisconneCt
This is a cell phone and social media free week
Teens spend the week working hard to create their most powerful identity that is free from comparison and cultivate an awareness and peace with where they are, who they are, and who they want to become. Social media decays this progress. Students are welcome to check in with their phones when they get back to their dorm room at night but many choose not to - they simply love the freedom of being able to be present.
Tuition
$1,295
Tuition covers full room and board, three meals a day in the award winning dining hall, all the UMass building and classroom facilities, insurance, and the typical freebies - shirts, bags, journals, lanyards, and other supplies for success.
CanceLlation
If you cancel...
-up until June 1, you receive full refund minus the $100 deposit.
-between June 1 & 72 hours prior to the start, you receive 50% refund.
-within 72 hours of Leadership Academy, you receive no refund.
We understand that there are many extenuating circumstances that lead to a student needing to cancel at the last minute so we will work with families as needed.
Leadership Academy Student Track
High school students can enter Leadership Academy for the first time at any high school grade. Leadership Academy is positively life changing as a one time experience and is also designed for those that start early and want to grow each summer with new curriculum and a deeper community.
Leadership Academy Components
Watch each component in action
Enjoy Life Classroom
Engaging full-group sessions led by Evren Gunduz. These high energy presentations include leadership simulations, mindset demos, SEL curriculum, and motivating talks on life, attitude, and success.
Squad Workshop
Students are broken into 8-member teams we call "Squads". Led by our "Enjoy Life Teachers", students create a life vision, make an action plan, set their personal mission statement and unpack the lessons learned in the Enjoy Life Classroom.
Squad Challenge
Hands-on, intricate team-building activities that require putting our curriculum and problem solving skills to the test. Each member of a Squad gets to lead their team. Squads compete against one other and one squad will be named the week's "Squad Champion".
Stories of Resilience
Staff members share personal stories of experiencing adversity, challenge, and struggle and teach our students how resilience is not simply overcoming difficulty, but embracing and growing from it! Students then create and share their own empowering story of resilience within their squads.
Mindfulness/Reflection
Students are led in morning and evening meditations & journaling sessions led by Tara Gunduz, a certified yoga & mindfulness instructor. We teach students the power of being present in their life moments and find gratitude for being active in their life journey.
Team Building
The full Leadership Academy Cohort works together to problem solve large group tasks that both bonds the cohort and develops critical skills in teamwork, communication, and leadership.
Leadership Academy Schedule
Leadership Academy is jam packed dawn to dusk but this is what it takes to provide teens with a life-changing experience! This program is not for teens who want a recreational week. This is for teens who want to transform their success in life and grow into the strongest version of themselves.
