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Ask Christopher Barbic, founder and director of Youth Engaged in Service College Preparatory (YES College Prep) in Houston, Texas, if he views himself as a leader, and he emphatically answers "yes." At only 30 years of age, one might think his answer is the product of youthful hubris or arrogance, but it's not. He simply has a clear understanding of what it means to be a leader. "A fundamental characteristic of leadership," says Barbic, "is the ability to envision an idea for change, convincing others to believe in that idea, and coming up with a detailed plan for making it work." Indeed, Barbic seems to be making it work. In only its third year of operation, this charter school has garnered many awards and honors and is helping to transform the lives of the students and the East End neighborhood where it is located.

Barbic approaches his job with such zeal that it is interesting to learn that he did not always want to be an educator. He majored in English and Pre-law at Vanderbilt University and had aspirations of becoming a lawyer. In his junior year of college a friend told him about Teach for America - an organization dedicated to improving educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth by recruiting recent college graduates to teach in poor rural and urban schools. Barbic decided to delay law school and commit to the two-year experience. He was assigned to Rusk Elementary in the predominantly Hispanic East End of Houston. He taught a class of sixth graders, and it was only a short time after that Barbic says he was "hooked." His Teach for America experience had made him passionate about education and committed to making a positive impact in the lives of the children he taught and community in which they lived.

Barbic was disheartened to learn, however, that after leaving Rusk some of his former students had joined gangs. Students and parents at Rusk also expressed a lot of anxiety about the prospect of attending the local middle school. It was reputed to be the center of a lot of gang activity, and "the kids didn't feel safe there," says Barbic. Therefore, in 1995, Barbic joined with the students and parents in petitioning the school board to allow the students to stay at Rusk through middle school. The petition was granted and the new school was called Project YES (Youth Engaged in Service). The goal was to provide the students with a more rigorous curriculum than offered at the local middle school and to engage students in community service projects within the neighborhood.

Three years later, however, they were facing a similar problem. Students facing the unattractive prospect of attending a failing inner-city high school. Barbic and his staff realized they had not solved anything, but only delayed the problem. Barbic went to the school board again. He wanted to provide the students with an alternative, but there was not enough room at Rusk. He would need a new facility, but it became clear to him that the school board was not going to support him and his idea for a new school. He decided to apply for and was granted one of the first school charters in Texas. These special public schools operate independently of the local school district, and Barbic felt it would allow him the flexibility to create a learning environment that best serve the students in the East End of Houston.

Barbic felt like the local public schools had simply become a warehouse for youth until they inevitably dropped-out and joined a gang. He knew he could offer the students in the East End a better alternative. He was committed to doing "whatever it takes" to ensure that his students would get a good education and go to college. He adopted the slogan as the school's motto, purchased some modular buildings, leased some property, and opened YES College Prep in 1998.

Barbic and his staff, which includes an energetic group of teachers - one-third of whom are Teach for America alumni - serve 400 students in 6th through 12th grades. The student body is predominantly Hispanic with a small percentage of African-American, Asian-American and Caucasian students. All come from families near or below the poverty level and most are first or second generation U.S. citizens.

YES College Prep provides its students with a rigorous curriculum and requires that all seniors be accepted to a four-year college in order to graduate. Service to the community is also a fundamental component of the YES College Prep curriculum. Students participate in a number of community service projects prior to their graduation.

The school has extended hours, which included two Saturdays a month and one month in the summer. Students at YES College Prep spend 65% more time in school than other Texas public school students.

As a reward for their hard work, students who maintain a 75 grade point average have the opportunity to go on a school sponsored trip in the spring of each year. These are no raucous jaunts, however. The primary purpose is to allow students to visit college campuses, including some of the nation's most prestigious like Harvard, MIT, New York University, and Columbia just to name a few. "Students will have visited 22 campuses by the time they apply for college," explains Barbic. "I also want the trips to serve as a motivator for the students to stay on track and to show the students what's attainable with a good education," states Barbic.

The rigorous curriculum seems to be paying off. Every student in YES College Prep's inaugural graduating class has been accepted to college; 85% of whom will be the first in their family to go to college. The list of acceptances is impressive and includes Smith, Cornell, Stanford, and closer to home, the University of Texas and Rice University.

YES College Prep has garnered a lot of honors and recognition in its first three years of operation. It was named "Best Charter School" by the Houston Press Magazine. It was also given an exemplary rating by the Texas Education Agency and has been rated a top performing high school based on theTAAS test percentages and attendance records. Students have also participated in a number of highly selective academic programs like Stanford University's Summer Philosophy Institute, Rice University's Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the University of Texas Women in Engineering program.

Last November Barbic was recognized for his leadership as one of nine recipients of the Do Something BRICK Award. The award is given to individuals under thirty who are creating positive change in their communities. Winners receive a $10,000 grant with the grand prize winner receiving $100,000 to use toward their community building efforts.

Indeed, Barbic understands that any lasting change will only occur through a transformation of the economically embattled community where the school is located. Toward that end, YES College Prep alumni must sign a contract outlining the steps each will take to improve the neighborhood after graduating from college. The existence of YES College Prep means that a higher number of talented students are staying in their neighborhood to go to school rather than leaving for a private or magnet school somewhere else in the city. The local middle school and high school have also become more academically competitive. The middle school has developed a magnet program, and the high school has instituted Saturday morning classes for students who need tutoring for the TAAS test.

Barbic attributes the success of the school to a "phenomenal staff." He also operates the school as a business. "It's important to love kids," he explains, "but it takes a balance of educational skills and keen business and management skills to make this work."

Nevertheless, there have been challenges. Perhaps the biggest challenge is money. The school gets some money from the state, but it is not enough. YES College Prep aggressively raises outside money to keep afloat, and in its first two years raised over $750,000 from corporations, foundations, and individuals. The extended hours at the school also raise the concern of student and staff burn-out. As a result, Barbic scaled back the schedule from three Saturdays a month to two and reduced the number of hours during the summer session. Barbic also struggles with developing an efficient administrative structure for the school without it becoming an unmanageable bureaucracy.

Barbic is personally committed to operating the school for at least another five years and is currently looking to replace the school's modular buildings with a permanent facility. He and his staff would also like the school to serve as a model and replicate it in other neighborhoods in Houston.

To other emerging leaders, Barbic advises: "Understand your strengths and weaknesses. Good leaders balance vision with attention to details, and if you can't do both you need to surround yourself with people who will provide you with that balance. You have to put your ego aside because you can't do it alone."