The 2018-19 LAMP Mentor Program has picked up and continued the momentum of last year’s fabulous program. In seeking to enlarge our outreach, we have entered into a partnership with the Good Man Movement, a similar program to LAMP based in Ontario, CA. We see this arrangement as having the potential to expand the LAMP Mentor Program into the Inland Empire and to open up new pipelines for young men to participate in LAMP. We have also added a new component to the Program. Volunteers, mainly from Gamma Zeta Boulé, will serve as mentors for specific grade levels. We are looking to establish one or two Mentors for each grade level and have the Mentors stay with their assigned group through graduation. Our goal is to facilitate increased interact between the LAMP Mentors and successful Black men.
We began the year with a series of orientation sessions to provide as much opportunity as possible for young men to join the program. As a result, we have 27 high school students registered this year – nine seniors, ten juniors, three sophomores, and five freshmen. We conducted our main orientation in the library of Polytechnic Upper School in Pasadena and had a program on How to Write a Business Letter and a Business Email.” Archon Gilbert Holmes conducted the session. The session included the mentees drafting a mock business letter and email and reviewing the drafts as part of the learning process. Some mentees sent revised drafts to Archon Holmes for further feedback.
Through our partnership with the Good Man Movement, we participated in a “Prep for the SAT Workshop” program in the Howell Board Room at the University of La Verne. Dr. Christiane Stephens led the workshop and provided a good introduction to the college application process, the SAT and how to prepare for it and other standardized exams and the importance of planning ahead. We are also participating in their “Speed Networking” program on October 13 at Mt. Zion Church in Ontario.
As we did last year, the mentees are reading two books as part of the program. The first is The Lies My Teacher Told me by James W. Loewen and the second is “There is a Fountain: An Autobiography of a Civil Rights Lawyer” by Conrad J. Lynn. We are planning to view the movie BlacKKKlansman” and discuss the Loewen book on October 20. We will discuss Conrad Lynn’s book at our April 2019 session.
Our November program is entitled “Law Enforcement and Black Youth” and will feature a panel of individuals from law enforcement and the legal community. In December we will hold our annual Holiday Celebration, Alumni Reunion and Toy Drive.
As you can see, the 2018-19 LAMP Mentor Program has had a great beginning. As detailed below in the Engagement Opportunities we look forward to more impactful activities in this academic year. We will cap off the year with our annual Scholarship Luncheon on May 19, 2019, where we award scholarships to our seniors who complete the LAMP Mentor program.
