The Other Side Academy

The Other Side Academy (TOSA) is drug-free residential community for previously convicted criminals who have hit rock bottom. Learning vocational and life skills to re-enter society successfully through peer influence to help individuals learn and assimilate social norms and develop more effective social skills.

Each candidate is inducted through a “crossing over” ceremony on a bridge that symbolizes leaving past life and behavior behind and moving into“right living”. The ordered routine of TOSA counters the disordered lives of students and teaches them how to plan, set, and achieve goals with accountability. The power of mutual self-help is expressed in the statement: When “A” helps “B”, “A” gets better. I was inspired by the lives of several students who expressed conviction that the program had literally saved their lives. I knew the logo needed to tell the story of this “crossing over” and the healing community of peer mentoring.