Our Vision
Our vision is that all students, regardless of race, background or income have access to high-impact, transformative, skill building experiences known to accelerate student access to college and successful careers.
Our mission is to help disrupt the cycle of poverty by significantly increasing the participation of marginalized, socio-economically and racially diverse young people in best-in-class Speech and Debate experiences that inspire, empower and transform students for a lifetime.
How we…..
INSPIRE
Peer Coaching Expertise
BEST supports programs that hire high-quality coaches who have competed at the highest levels AND who are from similar backgrounds as the low-income and diverse schools that we support.
When students who work with coaches who are of the same race and reflect similar first languages, experiences and/or socio-economic backgrounds, it provides invaluable messaging and modeling to students about how much they belong, what they can accomplish and who they can become.
Peer coaches are nationally competitive college students and graduates, many of whom have won at the highest levels! Upon graduation these peer coaches often become full-time coaches, district directors and program administrators!
EMPOWER
Best-In-Class Tournaments
BEST helps secure funding necessary to run best-in-class tournaments where students have opportunities to dress for success, have a voice on meaningful topics, compete with their peers, showcase a range of new skills, be competitive, learn persistence, be part of a team, and feel their hard work is valued and celebrated!
TRANSFORM
Accelerated College & Career Access
B.E.S.T. helps accelerate access to college and careers by starting as young as 4th grade in creating a strong continuum of multi-year support for young people to develop educational and social-emotional skills and real-world experiences that are necessary to compete at the highest levels, gain admission to college, earn scholarships and land jobs.
B.E.S.T. provides mentors to guide students through the transition of going to an being in college and, upon graduation, provides a network of support for job interviews.
BEST of all, students who compete in college are eligible to be hired as part-time or full-time Peer Coaches, providing valuable income and resume-building experiences!
