In 2017, the Disney Dreamers Academy (DDA) celebrated 10 groundbreaking years of bringing together 100 of the nation’s brightest minds and their parents annually for an immersive four-day program at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Created in 2007 in partnership with Steve Harvey and Essence Magazine, the Disney Dreamers Academy exposes youth and their parents to a chance of lifetime experience of hands-on workshops, mentoring, special entertainment, networking with established professionals and celebrities, and invaluable life-long personal and professional connections. The program is designed to inspire talented youth to dream bigger and put them on the path to their ambitious career goals.
APPLY FOR DISNEY DREAMERS ACADEMY BY OCT. 31, 2017 HERE!
Many of the Dreamers are African American youth who’ve often felt like their dreams were deferred. Growing up in poverty. Lacking a father at home. Bullied at school. Lacking confidence to pursue their goals or direction on how to achieve the seemingly impossible. The stories are all too familiar, but the Disney Dreamers Academy has successfully helped thousands of students change their narrative.
Students like DDA alum Princeton Parker. Parker began public speaking at two years old. Today, he speaks to youth groups and organizations all over the country and he credits Disney Dreamers Academy with showing him real examples of who he could become.
Or students like William Williams, a recent breakout DDA alum. The Norfolk, Virginia teen was bullied in school for being legally blind and living with albinism, a genetic condition that robs the skin of melanin. During the Academy, the once withdrawn William delivered a fully memorized seven minute poem addressing his bullies in front of the entire group of his peers and mentors.
William later performed that poem on the Steve Harvey Show, where Harvey also presented the Granby High School student and aspiring public speaker with a check for $10,000.
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The Academy gives each student the tools to begin making their big dreams a reality. More importantly, the Academy teaches students how to use those tools. “You go in with a dream and you leave with a dream and a plan.” That’s how Jonathan Sprinkles, a popular DDA mentor and speaker, likes to describe the magic that happens during the annual Disney Dreamers Academy.
Like many of the Dreamers he speaks to each year, Sprinkles felt disconnected for most of his life. He endured the divorce of his parents and death of his father at a young age. He didn’t feel like he was welcomed in many circles and found himself constantly trying to be something that he wasn’t to achieve connection with his peers. Growing through those challenging teen years, Sprinkles discovered how he could truly connect with himself, his Source and be of service to others.
Today, Sprinkles - known as “Your Connection Coach” - is a world-class speaker who shares with each incoming class of Dreamers how they can use the power of connection to get from where they are to where they desire to go. “I'm the first speaker and I talk to them about the power of the dream,” Sprinkles shared.
APPLY FOR DISNEY DREAMERS ACADEMY BY OCT. 31, 2017 HERE!
“I talk about the power of the dream and how the dream connects what is to what can be. It's the dream that allows you to divorce your reality and get married to your future. And I help them by giving them some steps - some very practical things - that they can do in order to live and spend time in their dream every day so that they can make it a reality," he added.
For many students, acceptance into the highly competitive Disney Dreamers Academy is the first of many dreams fulfilled. Statistically, it’s more challenging to get into the Dreamers Academy than it is to make it into Harvard, says Sprinkles. Thousands of high school students between the ages 13- 19 compete for participation in the all-expense-paid program by submitting an application and an essay. Only 100 are accepted.
The challenge of getting in, however, shouldn’t stop these scholars from applying. Renowned educator Dr. Steve Perry stresses that participation in the Disney Dreamers Academy is especially critical for them, who often go through school and life with a hands-off approach because they are so brilliant.
“Just because a child is 17 and self-motivated it doesn't mean that they don't need a parent. They still need a parent. At least one, potentially two, three, or four. They still need the high touch, high visibility experience that parenting is. Don't be fooled by their good grades or resume," says Dr. Perry, who serves as a DDA mentor and leads workshops for the parents and students. .
Born into a third generation of poverty to a teen mother, Dr. Perry is a blueprint for what it means to believe bigger and achieve against the odds. Dr. Perry received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Rhode Island; a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pennsylvania; and a Ph.D in education from the University of Hartford.
As the founder of Capital Preparatory Magnet Schools, Dr. Perry holds the distinction of 100% college acceptance for his graduating seniors, many of them minority students from low-income families.
Considered one of the nation’s most innovative educators, who has the ear of the likes of Oprah, Steve Harvey and Sean “Diddy” Combs, Dr. Perry explains that the Disney Dreamers Academy program is life-changing because it validates students as dreamers.
“So much about dreaming out loud is challenged by people around you. Their impression of you [and] their impression of themselves are all on display when you say that you want to be an architect or an astronaut. They are so quick, no matter who, to tell you what you can't be. And so the Dreamers [Academy] makes them feel like they can be somebody."
Through the program, says Dr. Perry, students recognize that their story and the things that many people would think limit them are actually a source of inspiration to themselves and others.
"We have to arm our children with a sense of self so as to ensure that they know how to deal with life's complications which is other people's shortcomings," says Dr. Perry.
Exposure to coaching, mentoring, and positive experiences like Dreamers Academy have proven to boost self-esteem and increase the likelihood of success.
"Disney is the world headquarters for dreams and there's no better place to learn than at Disney,” says Sprinkles.
Do you know a teen with unlimited potential who would benefit from the Disney Dreamers Academy program? Encourage them to apply TODAY! Applications are accepted through October 31, 2017. Students must register online here. To learn more about the Disney Dreamers Academy, visit www. DisneyDreamersAcademy.com.
