Twelve youth participants will be the first to join the Project U program this summer.

The Guam Police Department held a press conference this afternoon announcing the new community initiative that's in collaboration with safe school partners. It will run from June 1 to June 29, it's a four week curriculum shaped to mentor the islands youth with life skills.

"With the four-week curriculum youth participants ages, 14-17 years old will be working with the youth engagement working group that consists of sworn officers from the Guam Police Department," Chief of Police Steve Ignacio said. "Our overall goal with Project U summer program is to mentor the participants in becoming better decision makers by developing them to become responsible citizens and teach them the core values and life skills."

The pilot programs will be from Monday through Friday, and each day is is themed as follows: Mentor Mondays, Trade Tuesdays, Wellness Wednesdays, Thrive Thursdays and Fun Fridays. The program is partially funded under a substance abuse, prevention and treatment block grant from the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center.

For more information, you can view our livestream of the press conference on our Facebook page.