For 50 Metro Atlanta middle school students, a little Disney magic could open the door to a world of possibilities.
Walt Disney World and Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta celebrated the selection of 50 students for the newly expanded Disney Dreamers Academy on Oct. 22 at the John H. Harland Boys & Girls Club in southwest Atlanta. The collaboration brings Disney’s youth development program to younger students through mentorship, career exploration and hands-on learning experiences designed to help them discover their potential.
The celebration transformed the clubhouse into a miniature Walt Disney World, with activities inspired by its four theme parks. Students designed Mickey Mouse ears, raced droids and met Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Princess Tiana.
Launched in 2008, Disney Dreamers Academy has provided more than 1,800 high school students nationwide with mentorship and career exploration opportunities. Now, Disney is expanding the program to reach students as early as middle school through a year-round, multiyear experience with Boys & Girls Clubs in Atlanta, Orlando, Miami and Houston.
The pilot includes 200 students across the four cities, with 50 selected from Metro Atlanta.
Competition for the Atlanta spots was significant. Libby Saylor Wright, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, said approximately 125 to 150 students applied for the 50 openings, with additional applicants placed on a waiting list.
Applications were distributed across the organization’s 26 clubs in nine counties. Students were evaluated based on their interests, aspirations and responses about their futures.
Wright said parental involvement helped drive applications after an initially limited response from students.
“We sent it to the parents [and] within 24 hours we had 125, 150 applications, and so that’s a difference,” Wright said.
For newly selected Disney Dreamer Noah, the significance of the opportunity became clearer after speaking with his mother.
” At first I didn’t…know how big it was gonna be,” Noah said.
Fellow Dreamer Bayleigh was eager to build relationships through the program.
“I was just thinking that I was excited because I would get to meet new people and make new friends,” Bayleigh said.
The celebration marked the beginning of a longer journey. Official programming begins in January 2027, with students participating in workshops, mentorship opportunities and career exploration activities throughout the year. Disney’s investment in participating clubs will span the current and 2027-28 school years.
Students will connect with Disney employees working in fields ranging from engineering and entertainment to finance, marketing and animal sciences. Programming will take place virtually and in person at local clubhouses, with a future visit to Walt Disney World, where students will meet Dreamers from the other participating cities.
Tajiana Ancora-Brown, director of external affairs at Walt Disney World, said the expansion is designed to introduce students to opportunities earlier in their development.
“We want to stay connected with them, get connected with them earlier, and stay with them longer,” Ancora-Brown said.
She emphasized the variety of careers students will encounter, extending far beyond the entertainment industry.
“We represent all other parts… of the business,” Ancora-Brown said. “They represent engineers, artists, entertainers. We also have professions in finance and legal, and then marketing and everything in between.
For Wright, the collaboration also addresses a larger challenge facing Atlanta’s young people: unequal access to opportunities.
“Having a collaboration with somebody like Disney gives us an opportunity to expose them to something that they may not have otherwise done,” Wright said.
As the program begins, students are already imagining where their interests might lead. Asiah, another selected Dreamer, hopes to pursue orthodontics.
“I’m interested in dentistry, specifically the orthodontist type of industry because what I said in my speech, I mentioned about people being confident in their smiles,” Asiah said.
Wright hopes the pilot will eventually expand to reach more young people.
“We’re starting with a pilot, but we hope to expand it to all of our young people that are eligible,” Wright said.
For these 50 young Dreamers, the journey may begin with Disney characters and theme park experiences, but the real magic lies in discovering just how far their ambitions can take them.
