African-American Parent Involvement
Day
(second Monday in February)
This NAAPID call to action is designed to address the serious educational
acheivement gaps facing African American students. According to the
Michigan State Department of Education, African-American students are at
the bottom of the scale in Reading, Mathematics and Science. They
continue to lag behind Caucasian, Asians and other ethnic groups.
This pattern is said to begin as early as fourth grade. African-American
students seldom recover from this educational deficit.
The primary objectives of African-American Parent Involvement Day is
to
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Create a dialogue between home, school and community.
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Provide a conducive learning environment where children and parents can
feel comfortable with educators and vice versa.
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Assist educators, superintendents and other officials in being receptive
to parental input and support.
Growing Up Black & Proud
Mentorship Program
Goal - To empower African-American youth to discover, define, and develop
both a positive racial identity and the skills to remain free of alcohol
and other drugs. For African-American youth, growing up Black and proud
is crucial to growing up alcohol and other drug free.
This new program is the only support group curriculum specifically designed
for African-American youth that helps young people develop a strong and
positive racial identity, realize they're part of a very special community,
and learn information and skills they need to grow into drug free adults.
Training African-American Parents
for Success
Being an African-American parent in White America is an issue that
becomes complicated simply by the difference in culture values and traditions,
passed down to African-American families, that are generally contradictory
to the contemporary White American culture and value system.
The examples that one sets as a parent are the guides by which our children
will measure us, either consciously or unconsciously. Therefore,
African Americans raising children in this country have to be cognizant
of the fact that there are obstacles to overcome -- ones that we may face
simply by being African-American, but the way we overcome them will be
a basis from which our children will learn how to confront similar obstacles.
African American Male Health Initiative
(Improving the Health of African American Males in
Michigan )
The challenges to improving the health and quality of life for Michigan's
African American males stem from a host of complex and interrelated factors
having to do with cultural attitudes and beliefs, lifestyle behaviors,
family dynamics, socioeconomic realities such as poverty and racism, the
delivery and organization of health and human services, and the African-American
male's educational and community environments.
Albion Men of Vision / Albion Women
of Vision
"It takes an entire village to raise a child." In this spirit,
Albion "Men of Vision" as part of the "Village" will reclaim their traditional
role of the adult male in teaching African-American youth. Through
a developmental process of nurturing, mentoring and consciousness raising,
Albion "Men of Vision" will help African-American youth to increasingly
assume responsibility for themselves and their community.
Kwanzaa Institute for Youth Development
The Kwanzaa Institute for Youth Development is a prevention program
focussing on the importance of developing youth awareness of their culture.
The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa form the basis of a self-help program for
African-Americans. It gives us a blueprint to achieve personal excellence
and it teaches us how to improve ourselves within the context of our culture,
thereby improving the moral, physical and spiritual condition of our people.
The principles are to be incorporated into our daily lives and practiced
throughout the year. Kwanzaa Institute for Youth Development incorporates
following programs:
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Tutoring and Remedial Education
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Recreation Services
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Assistance in the development of Work Awareness Skills
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Alcohol and Substance Abuse Prevention
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Leadership Development
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Mentoring
Rites of Passage Institute
The Rites of Passage Institute will provide the Training, Programing,
Evaluation and Dissemination of information to develop a critical mass
and community of servant leaders. Our vision is to institutionalize
a process that will result in the development and regeneration of Healthy
and Authentic Community. The following services will be used to implement
these goals:
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Training
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Programming
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Evaluation
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Publishing
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Forums/workshops
The Rites of Passage Institute is sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation,
Albion Housing Commission, The Department of Housing and Urban Development,
The City of Albion, Albion Public Schools, The Michigan Community, Health
Department.
Women's & Girls Rites of Passage
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The overall objectives of this rites of passage program are:
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To foster knowledge among young Black females of the specific nature of
their sexuality.
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To encourage appreciation of African-American familyhood and the manner
in which process-oriented, survival-based family roles are shaped by cultural
traditions and individual circumstances.
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To enhance participants awareness of their role in the development of their
community and their friendships
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To increase the appropriate and practical use of time, work habits and
money.
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To direct participants interests and attitudes toward creative self expression
as a meaningful vehicle.
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To use nurturing, self-loving approaches to a variety of everyday as well
as "benchmark" situation.
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Overall goal: To provide opportunities for Black females adolescents to
prepare themselves -- physically, socially, emotionally, intellectually
and culturally-- for passage to womanhood.
African-American Leadership Institute
The purpose of the institute is to provide students with the skills
necessary for leadership in their schools, communities and homes.
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The curriculum includes
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Cultural Boundaries
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African American History
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Substance Abuse Prevention
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Self Perception
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African American Male/Female Relationships
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Racism
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(identifying and dealing with) Effectively Expressing Anger and Oppression
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Communication and Community Relations
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Analytical Skills
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Dealing with Peer Pressure
Curriculum source- Growing up black and Proud by Peter Bell, Additional
materials distributed by instructors.
See also Annual Events - Kwanzaa, etc.
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