The Gamma Zeta Boule Foundation, L.A.M.P. Mentor Program commenced its 16th season of providing workshops on Leadership Achievement Management and Professionalism for African American high school males with sessions on August 28 and September 25, 2021. This year there are 36 Mentees in the Program.
The first session of the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program was on August 28, 2021, at the Pasadena Rosebud Academy. The Academy is a Black-owned Charter School in Altadena, CA. This was the first in-person session since the outbreak of the COVID pandemic. The L.A.M.P. COVID protocols were developed with input from the COVID-19 Advisory Panel of the Gamma Zeta Boule Foundation Board of Directors. The protocol includes a vaccine mandate for all Mentees, Mentors, and volunteers.
The session included an Orientation for all Mentees and the parents of new Mentees. The general orientation consisted of an introduction to and discussion about the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program rules, guidelines, and protocols. Additionally, the L.A.M.P. Parent’s Auxiliary Council (PAC) conducted an orientation for the parents of the new Mentees. The PAC has become an integral part of the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program. PAC offers parents a vehicle to donate their time and talents to assist the Program through volunteer opportunities. These include set up, breakfast and lunch service, and breakdown for each session.
The topic of the first session was Leadership and Communication. During the workshop, Archon Gilbert Holmes led a discussion of the importance and relationship of leadership and clear and proper communication. He also introduced the Mentees to a format for a business letter, a business email, an RSVP, a written journal entry and a video journal entry. The latter two items are expectations of the Program for each Mentee. After the presentations, the Mentees were divided into small groups and assigned a breakout room. Each Mentee had a prompt to write a letter and an email to the director of a program regarding an internship. In each breakout room, there was an adult Mentor to answer any questions the Mentees might have. After the breakout rooms portion, the Mentees gathered for an introduction to the concept of constructive feedback and engaged in that process with volunteered examples of the letters and emails written in response to the prompt.
The L.A.M.P. Mentor Program held its second session on September 25, 2021, at the Pasadena Rosebud Academy. The session consisted of an Orientation for the Mentees who missed the first session and the parents of new Mentees who enrolled after the August 28 session. The September 25 session marked the closing of enrollment in the Program for the 2021-2022 year. The topic of the session was Time Management, Teamwork and Critical Thinking. Archon Gilbert Holmes led a presentation and discussion of time and how to manage time best and efficiently. The presentation included a video on the Big Rocks concept developed by Stephen Covey and a discussion and example of Backward Planning. Archon Earle Charles, Associate Program Coordinator challenged the Mentees to use the Backward Planning process as they read the play Seven Guitars and prepared for the session when they will see the play on November 13, 2021. Archon Ramsey Jay, Jr., president of the Gamma Zeta Boule Foundation, led a presentation and discussion on teamwork and the attributes of successful teams.
After the presentations, the Mentees watched a video on the Paper Tower Challenge where students attempt to build a tower with paper and tape. The tower must hold the weight of a 16 oz. can of food for 60 seconds. After the video, Archon Holmes divided the Mentees into six groups of four or five Mentees. Each group received 30 pieces of paper and a roll of scotch tape and had the task to build a tower in 45 minutes. The task required the Mentees to use the concepts that Archons Holmes and Jay presented in the beginning of the session. At the end of the 45-minute period, the Judges examined each tower, counted the number of pieces of paper used and tested the towers on whether they could hold a 16 oz. can of food for 60 seconds. The winning tower passed the weight test and used 23 sheets of paper. Here is a photo of the winning tower and the winning team of Derrick Taylor (12th Grade), Andrew Taylor (11th Grade), Logan Weaver (10th Grade), Isaiah May, (12th Grade) and Isiah Crowell (12th Grade). The tower stood 22 inches high.
The Gamma Zeta Boule Foundation and the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program wishes to thank the Mentees and Mentors for their participation in the Program and the parents and other volunteers for their support. You can be part of the L.A.M.P. Community by donating at www.gzbfoundation.org or by contacting us at lamp@gzbfoundation.org.
