The purpose of this ex post facto study was to compare the end of year GPAs of 8th grade underachieving students who participated in Career and Technical Education programming through the Memphis Ambassadors Apprentice Program to those who did not. Introducing Career and Technical Education programs and activities to students at a young age impacted stigmatizing issues in the field, such as the gender gap and atypical course enrollment. Early exposure to these programs served as an intervention, with the middle school students chosen to participate in the study improving their academic performance. The sample size for this study included 100 students in the MAAP youth after school program. In this study, I investigated if there were significant differences in students' GPAs between those in the programs and those who were not. A single t-test was used to analyze students' GPAs before MAAP and at the end of the MAAP program to determine if the two groups differed in their GPAs at the end of the MAAP program. Another single t-test was used to see if there was significant interaction between the students' GPAs before and GPAs after the students entered the program. The sample size I found a statistically significant difference in mean GPAs, an increase by an average of 0.47 points, between the beginning and end of the school year for underachieving 8th grade students who participated in Career and Technical Education programming through Memphis Ambassadors Apprentice Program. Future researchers should examine the relationships with a larger sample size and more input from students who have participated in Career and Technical Education and by looking at a wider variety of Career and Technical Education courses for middle school students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]