The October LAMP Mentor Program activity was another spectacular event. We joined The Good Man Movement for their Speed Networking activity on October 13, 2018, at Mt. Zion Church of Ontario, in Ontario, CA. The program introduced the Mentees to six (6) young (40 and under) successful African-American men. The speakers represented a number of careers. They included a fire fighter (Gary Clark), a doctor (Larnell Ferrell), a celebrity barber (Fred Hawkins), an electrician (Lonal McKnight), an engineer (Ferris Harvey) and a hotel and casino executive (Howard Taylor). The Mentees spent 15-20 minutes with each speaker and rotated through all the young men. The speakers talked about their careers and how they achieved success in their respective fields. The wisdom that the speakers imparted included making excellence a priority, surrounding yourself with a Dream Team of friends – ones who were seeking success and avoiding the pitfalls – and staying away from the paths that lead to ruin – drugs, violence, pregnancy, and irresponsibility. The Mentees appeared to gain a tremendous amount of advice and instruction. They asked significant thoughtful questions and engaged with the speakers and each other around the topics the speakers raised. In the words of one Mentee who is a senior and has been with the LAMP Mentor Program since the 9th grade, “This was the best activity in the four years that I have been here.”
The next LAMP activity occurs on November 17, 2018. We will be viewing and discussing the movie BlacKKKlansman, and discussing the first book reading for the year, The Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James Loewen. The participants in the Good Man Movement will join us for this event. We will hold the event at Polytechnic School, Upper School Library, starting at 8:30 am and ending at 12:30 pm. We wish to thank the administration of Polytechnic School and the leadership of Mt. Zion Church of Ontario for allowing us to use their facilities for the LAMP Mentor Program and the Good Man Movement.
