PROJECT ENGAGE proposes to conduct a series of focus groups {in urban communities} with prospective students to learn from the youth.  A trained facilitator will conduct the focus groups, the team’s composition and the group discussion will be carefully planned to create a non-threatening environment in which participants are free to talk openly. Participants will be actively encouraged to express their opinions. Because focus groups are structured and directed, but also expressive, they can yield a lot of information in a relatively short time. The Focus groups help PROJECT ENGAGE learn more about prospective participants’ opinions and needs.  We will use the Focus group information to supplement the knowledge we gained from our research.  We will collaborate with local high schools and community agencies to solicit focus group participants.  We anticipate conducting focus groups with targeted youth in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Oakland, Baltimore, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston and New York.  Information collected from the focus groups will be used to strengthen our curriculum.