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By Community Contributor Valerie Klokow

Hartford Youth Scholar Elyssia Reyes debuted her spoken word piece “Lost in the Cords of the Me-dia” at reSET’s Open Mic Night on February 4th. Reyes is a sophomore at the University of Connecticut and she wrote this piece as part of an assignment in a sociology class assignment on the role and influence of mass media. reSET’s open mic was the public debut of Reye’s piece.

reSET is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the social enterprise sector. Its strategic goals are threefold: to be the “go-to” place for impact entrepreneurs, to make Hartford the Impact City, and Connecticut the social enterprise state. In addition to providing co-working space and accelerator and mentoring programs, reSET aims to inspire innovation and community collaboration, and to support entrepreneurs in creating market-based solutions to community challenges. The organization’s Open Mic Night was a family event, open to all ages and featuring singers, poets, writers, dancers and performers of any kind.

Housed on the campus of Trinity College, Hartford Youth Scholars was founded in 2005 by a group of community and business leaders, led by founding Chairman Karl Krapek to help increase college access for Hartford students and to help close the achievement gap. With a mission to create lifetime opportunities for underserved Hartford children through education, HYS’ primary objective is to place Scholars who complete our program at four-year colleges prepared to be successful in the postsecondary environment.

Currently serving 195 students from 7th grade through college seniors, HYS helps highly motivated Hartford students gain access to and graduate from best fit secondary schools and colleges. The organization provides Scholars and their families with academic, tutoring and mentoring support for 10 years, beginning the summer before students enter 7th grade and continuing through college graduation. 6th grade Hartford students are nominated to apply by parents, teachers, school administrators, etc.

For more information or to nominate a student, visit www.hartfordyouthscholars.org