Success today in school and in life requires solving problems, critical thinking, communicating, social skills, perseverance, and resiliency. We foster these qualities in our after-school engagement centers using culturally-relevant, project-based learning to engage youth. We expose our youth to thoughtful, caring, and skilled teachers who have high expectations and use best practices in youth learning and development. Our program goals are enhanced by our impact programs of either basketball or dance that follow engagement center sessions. Our coaches are communicators, role models, and mentors from the students’ community who use sports and dance, as part of a fully integrated curriculum, to have fun while reinforcing the lessons of the engagement center.