The History of IMP

IMP is a story of triumphant individuals and the mentors who support them. Not all children in today's society grow up in environments that are conducive to education and self-actualization. To many youth, the obstacles of poverty, substance abuse, gangs, violence, and neglect seem insurmountable. In January of 2004, the Incentive Mentoring Program was created to support Dunbar High School's lowest-achieving students. The organization was designed to provide one final fork in the road before these students were expelled as a result of poor grades or disruptive behavior. Some were hesitant to put effort into their education because they did not believe they had any potential for a future worth investment. If they were "just going to end up in jail anyway," why try?

Sometimes it takes someone else to believe in you before you can believe in yourself. IMP's goal was to empower these students to take control of their fate though a comprehensive mentorship approach. More than expert tutoring, our program offered the emotional, financial, and navigational support that these students needed to develop strong senses of self-efficacy and to prioritize their educations.

Today, with the generosity of over one hundred Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine volunteers and a handful of community donors, the students of IMP have achieved an unparalleled level of success. Although statistics predict that the majority of Baltimore City High School students will never receive a high school diploma, each and every member of the inaugural IMP class graduated from Dunbar High School with multiple college acceptances. Students originally at highest risk for failing high school are now attending Bowdoin, Purdue, Mercyhurst, Frostburg State, Trinity, and Morgan State University.

In the Fall of 2007, IMP selected a new group of high school students who were not meeting their academic potentials. Our goal is to maintain a 100% graduation rate and 100% college acceptance rate, refusing to let anyone "slip through the cracks."