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THINK Together and j.k. livin Announce Partnership to Educate Students About Nutrition and Health

June 11, 2011

Effort Pairs California’s Fastest-Growing Extended-Learning Program for At-Risk Kids With Innovative Foundation Established by Actor Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves

THINK Together, California’s fastest-growing extended-learning program for at-risk youth, and the j.k. (just keep) livin foundation, a nationwide after-school program for teenagers, today announced a partnership to educate at-risk students about nutrition and health.

Founded by actor Matthew McConaughey and his partner, Camila Alves, in 2008, the j.k. livin foundation provides after-school programs for thousands of teens in large, inner-city high schools. The foundation works with schools across the nation and in other parts of the world, with students learning to set attainable goals, plan nutritious meals, exercise and give back to their communities.

Established in 1994 in a gang-plagued neighborhood in Westside Costa Mesa, THINK Together today serves more than 75,000 at-risk youth from 250 locations across California. The non-profit organization provides comprehensive extended-learning programs to K-12 students that include structured academic instruction, homework support, skill-building activities, physical fitness and healthy nutrition.

Through the newly formed partnership, THINK Together and the j.k. livin foundation will partner on a new program about health, fitness and nutrition at four sites in California, Century High School and Valley High School in Santa Ana, and Azusa High School and Gladstone High School in Azusa. The new program will be implemented each week with students participating in fitness and wellness programs designed to teach the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

“The mission of the j.k. livin foundation is to help teenage kids lead active lives and make healthy choices to ultimately become great men and women,” McConaughey said. “THINK Together’s success at transforming children’s lives through compassionate, hands-on after-school study lessons and personal mentoring provides kids with a safe, structured extended learning environment that perfectly complements the mission and goals of the j. k. livin foundation.” McConaughey announced the partnership Saturday night at THINK Together’s annual major benefit event in Anaheim, which featured a keynote speech by Geoffrey Canada, the nationally acclaimed president and chief executive officer of the Harlem Children’s Zone.

Randy Barth, founder and CEO of THINK Together, said the partnership with the j. k. livin foundation comes as his organization prepares to launch a major program expansion in an effort to reach many more at-risk children.

“All of us at THINK Together have tremendous respect and admiration for Matthew and Camila’s foundation, and we can’t think of a better partner with whom to reach thousands of additional at-risk children with our shared messages of hope and promise for the future,” Barth said.

“The partnership will expand upon THINK Together’s model of scalability and unique ecosystem of support that is enabling us to surround schools with learning.”

“This wonderful partnership with the j.k. livin foundation will provide these students with the opportunity to enhance their lives through fitness and healthy choices, an opportunity that otherwise would not be available,” added Barth.

A 2002 California Department of Education study of 954,000 students who were in grades five (353,000), seven (322,000), and nine (279,000) individually matched Stanford Achievement Test Ninth Edition (SAT-9) standardized test scores with results of the state-mandated, teacher administered, physical fitness test, known as the Fitnessgram. The six fitness standards included in the Fitnessgram were cardiovascular endurance, body composition, abdominal strength and endurance, trunk strength and flexibility, upper body strength and endurance, and overall flexibility.

Results of the CDE study included a “statistical analysis indicating a distinct and linear correlation between students’ academic achievement and fitness scores” in all three grades; higher academic performance was positively related to higher levels of fitness with the greatest academic gains in students who met three or more physical fitness standards. This association was greater in mathematics than in reading, and female students demonstrated higher academic achievement at higher fitness levels than male students.

The new program will be implemented for the 2011-2012 academic year.

THINK Together is seeking to build a financially sustainable, region-wide system of high quality afterschool programs and other learning out-of-school time learning programs (small group tutoring, early literacy, summer, Saturdays, etc.).

Independent evaluation results from several studies including a recent study from the University of California at Irvine, indicate improvement in THINK Together’s student’s academic results, and high levels of parent and principal satisfaction:

A UCI comparison group study of students in Santa Ana indicate that over a two-year period, students in the THINK Together after-school program showed twice the gains of non-THINK Together students in English Language Arts and for students that also attended THINK Together small group tutoring, the gains were four times that of non-THINK Together students.
The gains demonstrated in the UCI study were even more pronounced in math. Santa Ana students not in THINK Together regressed 11.81 points on their scaled scores while THINK Together after-school students gained 14.5 points and THINK Together students who also attended THINK Together small group tutoring gained 29.5 points.
In a recent comparison group study in Baldwin Park, THINK Together students attending the program for three years have 7x the gains in Math of non-THINK Together students.
Principal surveys show:
- 77% of the students improved in homework completion
- 89% improved in overall academic performance
- 95% were satisfied with the overall organization of the program
Parent surveys show:
- 96% are getting better grades on their report cards
- 95% improved self-esteem
- 98% would recommend the program to another parent
Student surveys show:
- 83.8% learn important reading or math skills
- 87.8% are more comfortable doing homework on their own because of the skills developed in the program
- 91.2 reported the program helped them get better grades

About THINK Together

THINK Together is one of the leading and largest nonprofit providers of extended-learning time programs (early literacy, after-school, small group tutoring, summer learning, etc.) in the U.S., serving 75,000 students at 250 schools and community sites across a five-county footprint of Southern California (Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego) plus greater Sacramento. Partnering with school administrators and teachers, its academically oriented programs and dedicated team of 2,000 employees are helping at-risk students close the achievement gap. THINK is an acronym: Teaching, Helping, Inspiring & Nurturing Kids. For more information, call (888) 485-THINK or visit http://www.THINKtogether.org or http://www.facebook.com/THINKtogether.

About the j.k. (just keep) livin foundation

The j.k. (just keep) livin foundation was started by Matthew McConaughey with the hope of encouraging children to make positive and healthy changes in themselves and in the world around them. The foundation’s work begins with the idea that each child will benefit given the opportunity for a healthy lifestyle. The foundation works with schools throughout the United States and in other parts of the world to reach the maximum number of children with the greatest needs. For more information, visit http://www.jklivinfoundation.org.