In 1990, our founder Tom Lewis, a former Metropolitan Police Department officer, opened The Fishing School in a renovated former crack house on Wylie Street, NE (Ward 6), one of the most crime-ridden neighborhoods in DC. He believed then, as we do today, that education is the absolute key to breaking the cycle of poverty, and in the power of afterschool and summer programs as vehicles for delivering learning. He also based his vision on the adage, “If you give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will feed himself for a lifetime.” Since 1990, TFS has helped over 4,000 students and their parents. Our programs have historically produced high impacts for children, evidenced by external evaluations, continued growth, and fiscal stability. To ensure our impact was sustained and could scale, we embarked on an ambitious strategic planning process in January 2012. This intensive, two–year process prepared us to launch our innovative new Cohort Model and a refined mission statement. Please watch Redemption Stone to learn about our founder, Mr. Tom Lewis:
https://youtu.be/uTvBR0LagHg
