L.A.M.P. Mentor Program

Therese Dodds, L.A.M.P. parent and the first Chairperson of the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program Parents Auxiliary Council (L.A.M.P. PAC) has stepped down from her position. She made this decision due to promotions and added responsibilities at work and has handed the leadership post to Mark Fowler. Therese (pictured with her two sons, Marshall, and Landon) was the first chairperson of the L.A.M.P. PAC. Gamma Zeta Boule launched L.A.M.P. PAC in the 2020/2021 school year as a part of the Foundation’s Institutional Infrastructure (II) strategic goal. Therese brought many brilliant ideas to the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program and L.A.M.P. PAC including launching workshops for the parents, and many programs to engage L.A.M.P. parents in [...]

The Gamma Zeta Boulé Foundation hosts an annual celebration and scholarship awards ceremony. In 2021, the event is the 16th Annual L.A.M.P. Scholarship Celebration and will occur as a virtual program on May 29, 2021 at 11:30 am. At the Scholarship Celebration, the Foundation will recognize eight graduating high school seniors who are members of the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program. The Foundation will award each student a scholarship to support their future endeavors. The Scholarship Celebration also provides an opportunity for businesses, individuals, and community organizations to support the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program and the graduating seniors through sponsorship and scholarship donations. You can support the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program through being a Sponsor [...]

Graduates with their recognition certificates, and clockwise, Gilbert Holmes, L.A.M.P. Mentor Program Coordinator, Ramsey Jay Jr, GZBF President, Earle Charles, Assistant L.A.M.P. Mentor Program Coordinator, and Michael Armstrong, Keynote Speaker On May 30, 2020, the GZBF recognized the accomplishments of ten outstanding high school graduates during its annual L.A.M.P. Mentor Program Celebration and Scholarship Awards Ceremony. The virtual program began with a musical interlude while the seniors, their fellow Mentees, family, friends and supporters. The musical interlude ended with the song “Glory” by Common and John Legend, and their very poignant line, “No one wins the war individually. It takes the wisdom of the elders and the young people’s [...]

GZBF L.A.M.P. Mentor Program continued its 2020-2021 activities with a September session on the topic Politics, Civics and Participatory Democracy, and a discussion of the book, The Ideal Team Player. The session began with a panel of Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer from the 50th Assembly District, Councilman John Kennedy from the Pasadena City Council 3rd District and Archon Bertral Washington, Deputy Fire Chief, San Bernardino County Fire Department. The panelist participated in a 30-minute presentation where they talked about who they are, what their job entails, what constitutes the areas of their responsibility, what internship opportunities exist in their respective offices, and what advice they have for young African American men who [...]

GZBF launched its signature program, the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program for academic year 2020-2021. The initial session for the year occurred on August 29, 2020 and keeping with the commitment to the health and safety of the Mentees, Mentors and volunteers, was via a Zoom platform. There were 30 new and returning Mentees, 5 Mentor/Volunteers and 12 Parents of new Mentees. The session began with an orientation for the new and returning Mentees and the parents of New Mentees. During the orientation, Archon Gilbert Holmes, Program Coordinator and Archon Ramsey Jay, Jr., introduced the participants to the goals and expectations of the Program and the calendar for the year.After the initial orientation [...]

Nicholas Richard-Craven is a bright young leader who is truly aiming for the stars. The Pasadena scholar plans to be among the first African-Americans involved in the Mars missions. Richard-Craven is a remarkable young man who has been striving towards his dream of pursuing a future in aerospace. He is a graduate of Pasadena’s Polytechnic High School with a 4.1 GPA and he will be attending Duke in the fall. He represents the next generation in aerospace. “I’m interested in astrophysics,” Richard-Craven said. “I’m interested in Mars and what SpaceX is doing. I want to join that mission, it’s my dream.” Richard-Craven, who was admitted early decision to Duke last December, [...]

GZBF’s LAMP Mentor Program began its 2019-20 year with a stellar event. On August 24, 2019, we gathered at Fleming’s Restaurant and Wine Bar for an Orientation for all Mentees and the parents of new Mentees. During the Orientation we focused on the expectations of the LAMP Mentor Program towards its Mentees and the parents of Mentees. We also focused on what expectations the Mentees and parents should have for the Program. Each Mentee and parent introduced themselves with their name, high school name and grade, and what they expected to gain by participating in the LAMP Mentor Program. Parents provided the name of a college they attended and what they [...]

Over two weekends in April 2020 during the COVID-19 experience of social distancing, I was privileged to be among four panelists who conducted virtual interviews for scholarships with a total of nine (9) graduating L.A.M.P. Mentor Program mentees. This was a completely exhilarating experience. Each of the students came to the virtual meeting properly dressed as one would expect of someone who was about to be interviewed in a professional setting. Amazingly in the entire interview session with each student, the lighting and background setting was just right and resulted in no distraction to the interviewing panel as each student received each question and provided very thoughtful answers to the panel. [...]

The main topic for the January 2020 GZBF’s L.A.M.P. Mentor Program activity was “Mock Interviews.” Since the inception of the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program, this subject has been one of the most popular sessions with students. GZBF recognizes that many students will soon be new entrants into the job market and they may lack experience in interviewing skills. GZBF believes strongly in the benefits of practice interview sessions and has included mock interviews in the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program curriculum each year in order to ensure that students are well prepared for the future. Ten Gamma Zeta Boulé members volunteered their Saturday morning to participate as interview panel members. It was pointed out [...]