The situation occurred often: Andre Jones finished his homework. And soon after, boredom began.
He couldn't hang out in the neighborhood to rid the monotony due to the presence of gang members in the area, near 104th and San Pedro streets, says the sixth grader at Skirball Middle School.
"I don't want to be around that ... because it's going to ruin my life in the future, and I can go to jail and stuff like that," he says.
Jones eventually found at least two extracurricular activities: Dancing and learning to be a DJ in the Youth Edutainment League, a program that gives locals, ages 12 to 18, the opportunity to learn about the sports, music and film industries, and prepare to enter into them.
Approaching its fourth year in November 2010, YEL has been expanding despite challenges, and founder Darius Farrelly says he plans to continue growing the program by helping place it in more schools throughout the Los Angeles area.
Developing a Legacy
YEL blossomed from one concept: the "Minor League."
Farrelly wrote the phrase in 2000 on notes for his father's eulogy — the same day he was told an aneurism suddenly snatched away his dad's life. He didn't want Dennis Sylvester Farrelly to become a forgotten man.
Dennis Farrelly cared for the local community and children in New York. He coached local youth softball teams, purchased balls and secured playing locations for the kids. He advised young Darius and his buddies about how to treat girls on their way to games. And he even cared enough about Darius and his friends to fashion paper towels into batons, just to help the youth run practice track meets on the streets of Brooklyn.
Farrelly says he wanted to develop his dad's legacy; the father and son often talked about helping the community. Creating the "Minor League" for youngsters, the concept that eventually became known as YEL, was one way of doing that.
But he also wanted to see youth develop self-esteem, leadership skills, good manners and other positive traits that would help them avoid drugs, gangs or other destructive things.
Farrelly got a shot to prove what his program could do for children in November 2006 at the local YWCA program at Horace Mann Middle School in Los Angeles. Farrelly says the program was losing youth because they weren't interested in the YWCA's offerings.
In about a month, Farrelly helped the number of participants climb from roughly a dozen to more than 60. YEL has also grown to include programs at nine locales, including the Boys and Girls clubs in Wilmington and Willowbrook, and at various schools such as Horace Mann, John Muir Middle School and Skirball Middle School, each in Los Angeles. As of March 2010, the number of YEL's participants has swelled to about 21,000 youth who have had the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look into music, film and sports — taking classes in fashion design, dancing, basketball, DJing and more.
Farrelly uses his past work experience and entertainment connections to bring professionals and well-known figures to guide the kids.
He has a DJ business, was a track and basketball athlete, and worked in the entertainment industry — including for KingWorld Productions. He also has a marketing, event production and promotion company, DF Enterprizes, under which YEL operates.
People such as Corey Maggette of the NBA's Golden State Warriors have interacted with the youth, as well as actor Kel Mitchell, producer J.D. Roth and others.
Students can take up to 14 classes and be trained by at least 15 paid professionals in their respective fields.
"It's immediately attractive to all parties involved," Farrelly says of the program, headquartered in a 1,400-square-foot building at 5001 Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles. "I (have) grown folks that want to do what we're doing."
Farrelly says the program could expand this year to L.A. campuses operated by the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools. There are also talks of utilizing the program with L.A. County's Department of Children and Family Services and the Trevor Ariza Foundation. And there will soon be a youth center at 434 S. Grevillea St. in Inglewood.
But not all is well.
Some educators are not so open to change and don't welcome YEL, Farrelly says.
It's not just fun and games, he adds.
Impact
"I know eventually I'm (not) going to be here, so I want to touch as many people as I can," Farrelly says.
The 45-year-old has accomplished some of his goal through YEL.
According to Joy May-Harris, principal of Skirball Middle School, the program has positively impacted her youth.
"The kids are really, really into it," she says.
A lot of them behave better, partly because they know their participation in YEL depends on it.
"They're into fashion, they're into music," explains May-Harris, who brought the program to Skirball in late 2009. "The DJing part, they are completely fascinated and are very concentrated on getting better."
Skirball student Lori Hill says she's benefited from the program. The 13-year-old aspires to be a musician or fashion designer and enjoys modern jazz, hip-hop and "battle" dancing.
"Yes, (it's) a big help," she says of YEL. "Because at home, it's OK, it's alright," and staying there can become really boring.
Jones, the sixth-grader from Skirball, says he's also benefited from YEL. He says he used to get in a lot of trouble in elementary school, but not anymore, partly because of YEL.
Although it took him a while to find a class he likes — (Jones stopped taking the graffiti art class because he's "not a good artist" and quit fashion design partly because mostly girls took the class) — he likes the DJ class, where he's learned about DJ equipment, scratching and mixing records.
"This is the only thing I'm really into," Jones says, "because I love hip-hop music."
For more information on the YEL program, visit www.dfenterprizes.com/projects/projects.html or e-mail info@dfenterprizes.com.
Samuel Richard is Managing Editor at the L.A. Watts Times.
Photos by Damien Smith.
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