What is Operation Xcel?

Excelling the next generation through Learning

By: Will Felts

February 18th, 2018

As you pull into the parking lot off of 314 Barker Ave in High Point, North Carolina, not much stands out. You see a brick building, one of two designated to Rankin Memorial United Methodist Church located in a small, quiet neighborhood.

On the inside, from morning to early afternoon, it’s quiet and dark with the windows providing the only light. On your way throughout the inside of the Church, you walk by a cafeteria type room on the way up to the second floor. Once you are there, you walk past a few small classrooms, those that are filled shortly after the staff arrive.

Cue 4 p.m. – the place comes alive. Lights turn on, kids filter in, as the staff that only features seven, four of those being the tutors that are assigned each to a room, corral the students.

A quiet and dark building comes alive, with smiling faces, engaged teachers, and energized students – Operation Xcel (High Point) is in session.

Operation Xcel is a program that “offers academic and enrichment programs for youth in kindergarten through senior high school.” The program serves just two cities in North Carolina, High Point, and Stokesdale. The High Point program serves middle schoolers, 6th-8th grade as the Stokesdale site serves K-5th graders.

Excelling towards the Highest Point

The program in High Point serves 25 kids to 30 on a good day, with the attendance varying from day to day. Without the help of volunteers, which the organization always is looking for, a typical student to teacher ratio in the three rooms, split by grade is generally, 9:1.

Operation Xcel was started in 2007 by Charlene Gladney, the current Executive Director of the program. “Operation Homework,” with the same underlying focus that the program still has today.

“The biggest positive benefit that the youth is an opportunity to see themselves achieving while in a safe, nurturing, environment. At Operation Xcel, each student is evaluated as an individual and therefore specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goals are set for them,” Gladney said.

Gladney, with Xcel and its staff aim to do just that by providing the students that attend Xcel with a safe environment, while also seeing them succeed in the classroom.

The “Promising After School Program Study,” found that those students that participated in after-school enrichment type programs “improved social and behavioral outcomes including reduced use of drugs and alcohol. Other studies related to the study stated, “show that youth who attend afterschool programs had better school attendance, behavior, grades and test scores than their peers who did not attend such programs.”

The program, Monday-Friday is run from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. The general activities and events that take place each day are Dinner, Affirmation and Champs, Reading and Journaling, Homework, and then for the last hour, Academic Enrichment.

Every aspect of Xcel is meant to be the way it is for a reason, including the specific hours the Operation is run day to day.

Reported by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, “the hours from 3 pm to 6 pm continue to be peak hours for juvenile crime and risky behaviors such as experimentation with drugs, alcohol or sex.” This report also included that “the risk of violent victimization is 60% greater during afterschool hours than evening hours.

The students come from Ferndale Middle School and Welborn Academy of Science and Technology, both only 4-6 miles away from Xcel, as the program also offers transportation to Xcel’s location.

The organization also offers “Operation 3 Steps Ahead,” which is a summer program that offers the same services as Operation Homework and Xcel.

Engaged Teachers

The engaged teachers as leaders of Operation Xcel in High Point set an example and always have their number one priority set for the students. Quay Weston, the lead tutor at the High Point location and the regional director knows that the sky is the limit with the students that come day after day.

“I realized the change that will come in humanity is dependent on the next generation and their ability to recognize themselves, their passions, their skills, and their peers to build faith in each other and make the world a better place, together,” Weston said.

Weston who graduated college focusing on Law, and was on track to attend law school, put that path to the side, as he always had a passion for youth and community.

Scott Bannister, the Program Director of Operation Xcel oversees all operations at both Xcel locations. Bannister has the knowledge and experience working with youth and non-profit organizations, as he knows that the students’ futures are dependent on what happens today and tomorrow, and Xcel is just the program to lead those students to futures they deserve.

“I believe that we really excel in helping students with their academics and increasing grades. I also think that helps build self-confidence too,” Bannister said.

Other than Quay Weston, leading as the head tutor, there are two other tutors. Miss T. works with the 6th graders, Weston is the head of the 7th graders, and Mr. Life tutors the 8th grade. In addition to the three, the High Point location has one reading specialist and two math specialists that work with kids that are pulled out occasionally each day to get extra help with homework and learning objectives.

Excelling beyond Goals

Operation Xcel as a program has a priority of serving their students with help with academics, while also reaching goals, those that involve setting up a great future for their students and those of the organization.

“My goal is to give 100% to the youth, to be engaging (because they give back what you give them), and try to remember that I am not the answer to all of their problems,” Weston said.

Bannister as the Program Director also helps set the goals of the program, which he noted that there is currently a handful.

The most important Bannister said was increasing enrollment for the High Point location. He also noted that staff members visit the two schools where students filter into Operation Xcel at least twice a week to work with teachers and to discuss the program with the students and the schools.

Bannister, as he stated how enrollment is their biggest goal right now, knows that it is one of their biggest challenges as well. The space that the program has in High Point though, has a capacity to serve 60 students, double the amount the program receives on a good day, as stated before.

The Importance of Xcel

According to the “JCPC Program Agreement,” “The program goal (of Operation Xcel) is to reduce recidivism among juveniles by addressing key risk factors in their academic and social development.” Xcel strives towards the goal of building self-confidence and “instill hope for future achievement.”

The tutors and staff at Operation Xcel (High Point) don’t look at these kids as another statistic, although 98% of the current students live below poverty. They look at these kids as the future of the next generation. They look at these kids as future leaders, dream chasers, and go-getters.

Operation Xcel is an organization that is engaged in the community, and have a focus on making the community aware of the organization’s services to the youth. They think outside of the box and give students hands-on, outside of classroom learning. There is a family-like atmosphere at Xcel, which makes this after-school enrichment program more than just a tutoring system for students.