TOLEDO, Ohio — Jacob Bates, is Chairman of All In Academy an after-school and youth summer program.
He is just one of the people learning about the 7 mindsets curriculum brought in by JoJuan Armour.
It's designed to help enforce positive and anti-violence habits through repetition and learning.
"We deal with kids through physical fitness and creative arts, we use those touchpoints to help them deal with anxiety," Bates said.
The idea is if kids are more capable of dealing with their emotions.. in the long term they'll be able to handle rough situations without using violence.
"We just believe if we can create that space or that safety space for our kids to get away from everything, maybe it can change them," Bates said.
Armour is in the process of hiring violence interrupters to respond to shootings with the goal of getting them trained and on the streets by the end of summer.
That's something he says is needed with 22 dead due to gun violence this year.
Bates hopes getting kids involved with this curriculum, is a step toward reducing these numbers for years to come.
Along with this program, Armour confirmed to us, that the youth jobs program has been completely filled for the summer.