African American Male Achievement Program

"From kindergarten through college, many African American males experience a serious stifling of their achievement, aspirations, and pride" (Lee, 2003, p vii). The African American Male Achievement Program will address these issues to empower young African American boys.

The African American Male Achievement Program (AAMAP) was created as an adaptation of Courtland Lee's (2003) book, Empowering Young Black Males. Dr. Lee is a faculty member in the College of Education's Department of Counseling and Personnel Services. Dr. Lee's program "offers specific strategies for empowering young African American males to help them achieve optimal educational and social success" (2003, p. ix). A critical part of the program is empowering the adults who support and work with these students, thus the program's focus is on community mentors, parents, and school staff. The program includes one-on-one weekly mentoring sessions, monthly group sessions with all mentors and mentees, monthly parent empowerment workshops with parents of participating mentees, and six teacher/school counselor professional development sessions.

The AAMAP was first implemented by MIMAUE at Seabrook Elementary in Prince George's County during the 2007-2008 school year. The program is in its second year of implementation. Preliminary results from parent and mentor focus groups illustrated that the program had a positive impact on participants. Parents overwhelmingly reported that participation in the program had benefited their sons and that their sons enjoyed participating in the program. Mentees were impacted in a myriad of ways. One mentee improved his ability to manage his anger, while others improved their focus on school assignments and turned in school work more consistently. Parents reported their sons were better behaved in school, as a result, a couple of parents reported receiving fewer phone calls from the school about their sons. Parents also reported increased improved self-esteem and self determination. One mother reported that her son showed greater confidence in his academic work and accepted doing well in school. Her son, who enjoyed schoolwork, had been afraid to show he did well in school; he did not want to be known as a "teacher's pet." However, the mentor "just gave him the okay that it's okay to be smart."

MIMAUE is looking for partners to expand this program. If you are interested in helping to fund this program or would like to provide in-kind support, volunteer as a mentor, or introduce this program at your school, please contact us for more information.

Courtland C. Lee, Empowering Young Black Males—III: A Systematic Modular Training Program for Black Male Children & Adolescents (Greensboro, NC: CAPS Publications, 2003).