| Description |
BSTRONG is the intentional effort of many BEAM Village partners to expand the Middle Passage to Education Conference from a single day of acquiring knowledge, building community, and exploring culture into an eight week extracurricular Rites of Passage Program. The journey begins at a high level at the January conference by uniting 100 students.<br/><br/>The 8-week BStrong institute serves Multnomah County Black middle school students and their families. We define Black as<br/>those single racial, biracial, or multiracial individuals whose contemporary relatives include persons who<br/>are of African descent. During this 8-week institute we cover:<br/><br/>1) Positive Identity through Black History: An essential framework and foundation will be provided by renowned historian and founder of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum, Khalid el-Hakim to assist African American/Black student participants in discovering and confirming their positive identities and reviewing and recording their Black History. In addition to Khalid el-Hakim’s History 101 Mobile Museum, Portland State University Black Studies students will co-create workshops in conjunction with Global Diversity and Inclusion Leadership. <br/><br/>2) Leadership and Personal Responsibility: Members of historically Black Greek fraternities and sororities will organize mandatory service learning days for student participants.<br/><br/>3) Financial Literacy and College Planning: Facilitated by our Village Partners Umpqua Bank and Black United Fund of Oregon to assist participating students in understanding the importance of financial literacy to predict future success, providing an understanding of well-kept secrets, financial norms, expectations and alternatives for funding education.<br/><br/>4) Civic Engagement and Social Justice: REED College professors and students will spend a week designing and utilizing a BEAM selected curriculum that combines academic learning and a hands-on created social justice practice model, i.e. environmental racism, economic development, overcoming blighted dreams and teaching student advocacy for success. <br/><br/>BStrong develops academically stronger students and more self-aware individuals who are civically minded.<br/><br/>The intent of BSTRONG is to develop a core team of African American youth leaders that will examine alternative ways at closing the opportunity gap for Black youth such that they have timely and culturally sustaining academic, personal, and professional development (PD) experiences that drive their motivation for both excellence in K-20 schooling and diverse career aspirations. The BSTRONG curriculum is grounded in culturally sustaining content that is not covered in school, one that nurtures the African American/Black student’s cultural knowledge and pride.<br/><br/>Project Activities: <br/><br/>A1) Workshops – 3 days a week for 6 consecutive weeks of interactive educational workshops that include community field experience’s <br/><br/>A2) 1-week of social justice camp at REED College that will include a Service Learning project <br/><br/>A3) 1-week outdoor “Food Equity Project” in partnership with LogHollow Farm and Mudbone Farms <br/><br/>A4) 12 students will be chosen to participate in a “Historical African American service learning project” that includes travel to the Smithsonian African American History Museums and Multiple HBCU Campus.<br/> <br/>A5) Assemble a Black Youth Council - where community leaders prepare youth to testify about issues at school board meetings. League <br/><br/><br/>Outcomes: Measurable Statistical increases in: <br/><br/>O1) Black middle school student perception of high school preparedness, <br/><br/>O2) Black middle and high school students' cultural knowledge and career interests, <br/><br/>O3) academic performance indicators disaggregated by grade level, <br/><br/>O4) number of Black middle schoolers who have completed civic engagement experiences, <br/><br/>O5) self-reported increase in access to culturally specific networking and mentoring opportunities, with a 40% follow up. <br/><br/><br/><br/>Our specific budget for the outline areas are:<br/><br/>$5600 - Program Activities<br/>$5250 - Program Materials<br/>$7200 - Transportation<br/>$18,050 - Total<br/><br/>Your $10,000 will help us offset these expenses by allowing us to allocate:<br/><br/>$2500 - Program Activities<br/>$2500 - Program Materials<br/>$5000 - Transportation<br/> |
