Young Men's Leadership Academy

🦁 URGENT: Shape the Future of YMLA! 🎓

We need your voice, YMLA Families! We are pursuing a Senate Bill 1882 partnership with Texas A&M University-San Antonio (TAMUSA) to bring new resources, specialized funding, and academic opportunities to our campus.

Why it matters: This partnership is a major step in building a stronger YMLA for our young men. Make sure to check ClassDojo to watch Mr. Brown’s video explaining exactly how this benefits our students!

How to Vote:
🗓 Deadline: Friday, March 6th @ Noon
🔗 Link: bit.ly/3MTisfk
🔑 Login: Use your child’s Student ID.
(If you have multiple children at YMLA, please use the ID of your oldest child. One response per family!)

Every vote makes YMLA stronger. Let’s do this together! 🦁💪

Questions? Call the front office: 210-354-9652

YMLA’s LOTC cadets represented the campus proudly at the drill team competition held at Cole Middle School on Fort Sam Houston. Cadets competed in company drill, squad drill, knowledge inspection, guidon, and individual male drill.

A special congratulations goes to Christian Reid, who earned 1st place overall in Individual Male Drill, commanded by Jason Ogunlana.

Looking Ahead

YMLA will host the SAISD Drill Competition this Friday, and our cadets are ready to showcase their skills on our home campus.

LOTC Students Explore Careers Through Virtual Reality

This week, our LOTC cadets have been diving into career exploration using the district’s virtual reality headsets. Through these immersive experiences, students can “step into” a variety of professions and begin imagining their futures in a hands‑on, engaging way.

We will continue these activities throughout the upcoming week. Our goal is for every cadet to have at least one turn—ideally two—with the VR headsets so they can explore multiple career paths.

In addition to the VR experience, students are completing activities that help them think more deeply about:

Careers that match their interests

Colleges, training programs, or military pathways

Salary ranges and job responsibilities

As part of their assignments, students may ask staff members about their own career journeys. These conversations help students see real‑world examples of different professions and the paths that lead to them.

We’re excited to continue supporting our cadets as they explore their future possibilities.

🏆 TMSCA Academic Achievements – State & Regional Success!

We are proud to celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of our STEM scholars in the Texas Math & Science Coaches Association (TMSCA) Qualifier Meet!

🧠 Jeremiah Contreras qualified for the State TMSCA Meet in 8th grade Science held April 11th at UTSA and placed 10th overall in Number Sense, competing against 4A–6A schools. This is an exceptional achievement against some of the strongest academic competitors in the state!

📚 Temiloluwa “TJ” Ojo earned 7th place overall in History, demonstrating impressive academic knowledge and competitive excellence.

🏫 As a school, we also qualified for Regionals at Alamo Heights on March 7th, reflecting the strength of our math and science team.

📣 The Atlanta Falcons were in the Lion’s Den today! 🏈

Our students were visited by Elijah Garcia of the Atlanta Falcons today! 🤩 Elijah attended Stevens HS right here in San Antonio, followed by Rice University. He is a 4 year NFL player, currently playing with the Atlanta Falcons, on the defensive line.

Elijah took time out to come and talk to our students about following their dreams, but also the hard work and dedication involved in making them a reality. The biggest takeaway? He stressed that you must be committed to following a plan of action in order to be successful in anything you do! What a great opportunity and message for our young men! Many photos were taken and autographs collected! 😎

This past weekend our phenomenal Latin Club students competed in the TSJCL Area B Latin convention at UT San Antonio. They earned a multitude of awards! Because our students are multi-talented pictures are limited as most of the young men had to run across town to other district activities.

Jason Ogunlana - 3rd place Level I Greek Derivatives and Cum Laude recognition on the Pentathlon exam

Jeremiah Contreras - 5th place Level I Latin Vocabulary and Cum Laude recognition on the Pentathlon exam

Oscar Trevino - 6th place Level I Latin Derivatives

Eli Rodriguez - 1st place Level IV Reading Comprehension Advanced Prose & Magna Cum Laude recognition on the Pentathlon exam

Kaleb McKewen - 3rd place Level IV Advanced Grammar & Magna Cum Laude recognition on the Pentathlon exam

Jordan Johnson - 4th place Level IV Latin Vocabulary and Cum Laude recognition on the pentathlon exam

Joaquin Ramirez - 6th place Level IV Mythology

Jonathan Granato - 4th place Level V Roman Life

Gloriris Moore - 4th place Level V Greek History

Samuel Rodriguez - 4th place Level V Mythology and Cum Laude recognition on the Pentathlon exam

We are so proud of everything our young men accomplished and can't wait to see what they achieve at the state convention in April! Fantastic work, gentlemen!

🏆🌍 National & International Academic Competition Qualifiers! 🌍🏆

Congratulations are in order for all of the students listed below. They have qualified to compete at the National Academic Championships in Orlando, Florida in the Science, History, and Geography Bees!

National Qualifiers:
TJ Ojo (2X Regional Champion - Science and History)
Moses Villarreal (2X Regional Runner-Up: Science and History)
David Sotelo (Regional Bronze Medalist: History)
Jeremiah Contreras (Regional Runner-Up: Science)
Wilson Marascio (Regional Silver Medalist - Geography and Regional Bronze Medalist - History)
Grayson Brooks (Regional Bronze Medalist - Science)
Abel Fuentes (Regional Runner Up - History)

In addition, TJ Ojo, Moses Villarreal, Wilson Marascio, and Abel Fuentes have also qualified for the International Academic Championships, representing our school on a global stage! 🌎

Please join us in congratulating our students on this outstanding academic achievement!

7th graders got to experience Texas History at its finest. Visiting the Bullock State History Museum, students were able to immerse themselves in artifacts and hands on learning. Thanks to the SAISD Foundation and Battle of Flowers Association for hooking us up with tickets and Chick-Fil-A.

Our YMLA chess team earned an impressive second place overall at a recent chess competition, showcasing strong strategy, focus, and teamwork throughout the event.

Jason O. delivered a standout performance, finishing among the top five individual players.

We are proud of our student competitors and thankful to the parents for their continued support, including providing snacks, drinks, and food during the competition.

Congratulations to our chess team on a great achievement!

Our students represented our school with excellence at the recent MESAC academic competition, competing against strong programs including BASIS Shavano, St. Luke, and Alamo Heights.

TJ Ojo earned an outstanding 3rd place overall in History, demonstrating deep content knowledge and strong analytical skills.

Oscar Trevino placed 7th overall in Maps, Graphs, and Charts, showcasing solid data interpretation and geographic reasoning.

We are proud of their hard work, preparation, and commitment to academic excellence. Congratulations to both students for their impressive performances!

LOTC cadets took part in the city’s 39th annual MLK March, the largest in the nation, to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us today for the MLK 2026 5K. Whether you were sprinting for a personal best or enjoying a community walk, your presence made this event truly special.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

Today, we moved forward together as a community.

🌟 A Special Thanks To:

Our Sponsors: HEB, San Antonio Parks and Rec., Street 2 Feet, Miss Chickpea’s Bake Shop, iaap, Coach’s Plumbing, Camp Gladiator, SAISD Foundation, YWLA Primary, Guerrero’s Mexican Restaurant, Fogo De Chao, and Bahama Buck’s. Your generous support makes this event possible year after year.

Our Families & Community Members: Thank you for showing up, cheering loudly, and bringing such amazing energy to the course.

Our Students: Your enthusiasm and participation are the heart of this race!

Our Faculty & Staff: Thank you for the hours of planning and volunteering behind the scenes to keep us on track.

We are so proud of the unity and spirit displayed today. Let’s keep that momentum going throughout the year!

LOTC cadets participated in Wreaths Across America at the National Cemetery at Fort Sam Houston. Cadets honored deceased veterans by laying wreaths at their graves and speaking each veteran’s name as a sign of respect, gratitude, and remembrance—ensuring their service and sacrifices are never forgotten.

Congratulations to the YMLA 6th Grade Male Color Guard for capturing 1st place at this year’s competition at Poe Middle School. All the teams did a great job!!

Congratulations to our YMLA chess team for winning 1st place in the team competition.

Congratulations to our seventh grade basketball team for earning the championship trophy for the SAISD MS Blue Zone! Go Lions!

It is with great honor to introduce our 2025-2026 All-district recipients!
Your hard word and dedication is appreciated!!!
GO LIONS!!!!