Aspire and Achieve English Tutor at work

 My new schedule finally let me visit our English/History Tutor, Thomas Demerath at work with two of our students. It was a fun experience to watch Tom and his students work together. 

Tom helps them with their daily homework and gets them to think about the bigger picture. Looking to college as a goal and helping them plan the best way for them to get there. 

It was great to see Tom and the students work together. Our Aspire and Achieve Program is fortunate to have such dedicated tutors as Tom Demerath and Max Shapiro working to bring out the best in the students they tutor.

Tom and Kidus discuss possible options of homework assignment. Notice also the chips and cup for soda. Added afternoon energy keeps the students focused.

Tom and Ronell discuss ways to make the most of his senior year by ways to raise his GPA and have more college options and scholarship opportunities.

Field Trip to see Othello at Cal Shakes in Orinda

On Friday, September 23, Aspire and Achieve along with AAMA took 21 students and 4 chaperones to see a special Student Matinee performance of Othello at the Cal Shakes Theater in Orinda.

 The performance was wonderful as was the Cal Shakes Staff. We were given a grove area to have our lunch and a staff member came by and had some of the kids read from the script. First a little fast and then really fast. It was to get the students acquainted with the speech and rhythm of Shakespeare. 

It was a fantastic event, and I sent a thank you note to Cal Shakes:

We at Aspire and Achieve, African American Male Achievement (AAMA) Manhood Development Class and Oakland Technical High School, would like to express our deepest admiration and gratitude for a wonderful experience for our students! We were so impressed with the organization, support, instruction and friendliness of the entire Cal Shakes Staff. The production was outstanding, and the interaction with the students was handled very well.

Aspire and Achieve is working with AAMA and 100 Black Men to provide resources and support to encourage, engage and empower our students. This was our first outing of this new school year and we couldn’t have picked a better one.

Thanks again and our very best wishes!

Someone must have really been late for class...

Tutoring and Mentoring off to a Great Start

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Lamar welcome parents and Kings to AAMA Parent Night, September 7

AAMA, 100 Black Men and Aspire and Achieve are really excited about this school year.  A large, eager Freshmen Class has the whole program working hard. The AAMA Manhood Development Class began on August 22, our Tutors started working on August 29, and 100 Black Men started their program September 15. All 3 programs are starting off great. Thursday, September 15 our Math an Science Tutor, Max Shapiro had the most students to date show up for Tutoring. On September 19 our English and History Tutor, Thomas Demerath, had the most students to date show up for Tutoring!

Max Shapiro, Aspire and Achieve Math and Science Tutor, works with Rickey Jackson. Rickey has graduated and is starting his first year at Cal State East Bay. He really wants to be prepared for his college classes. He also works with our English and History Tutor, Thomas Demerath. Rickey has also spoken to the current Kings about turning his life around and the help he has gotten from our combined programs. 

Langston Walker, 100 Black Men Member, speaks to Kings

Math Tutoring Sign Up Sheet for September 15, 2016. 8 current Kings plus Rickey Jackson  showed up for tutoring help. 

Aspire and Achieve back in class at Oakland Tech. In Lamar Hancock's AAMA Manhood Development Classes.

September 1, 2016
Aspire and Achieve 1st session of sitting in 3 class sessions of AAMA Manhood Development. Listening and occasionally joining in discussion.  Big Freshmen class this year and they are ready to learn! We are excited about this year and look forward to the Parent Night on September 7.

Back in AAMA Classroom. Montez leading discussion of "When did you first discover that you were Black?"

Lamar Hancock listens and also leads discussion

Freshmen class






 

Aspire and Achieve Tour of Museum of African Diaspora

May 5, 2016

Aspire and Achieve partnered with African American Male Achievement teacher and leader, Lamar Hancock, in leading 18 of our students on a fun day that included a guided tour of the Museum of African Diaspora and lunch at the Metreon.  Aspire and Achieve made arrangements for the tour and secured a docent to guide us on a tour. We paid for admission and also bought the lunches while AAMA got the BART Tickets and Lamar did a great job of leading the students. 

Lamar walked the students from Oakland Tech to the MacArthur BART station. He also arranged for the BART tickets. We got off at Montgomery Street and walked to the Museum. The museum currently featured 2 exhibitions: 

 Dandy Lion: (Re)Articulating Black Masculine Identity is a traveling photography- and film- based curatorial project that features the images of photographers and filmmakers from throughout the African Diaspora. Their subject matter is cis-gender Black men in urban, rural, literal and abstract landscapes across the globe, who defy stereotypical and monolithic understandings of masculinity within the Black community. Its discourse intersects class, gender formations, ethnicity, ideology and style. Dandy Lion confronts the hyper “thug” narrative and is a portrait of the multi-varied alternative identities that have always existed in Diasporic communities.

The Grace Jones Project explores the influence of model, actress, and singer Grace Jones. The exhibition brings together more than twenty works by an intergenerational group of artists working primarily in photography, video, and performance. Some artists pay direct tribute to Jones while others demonstrate a Jones-like sensibility in their engagement with the black body and queer identity.

The tour guide asked good questions and the students gave thoughtful and perceptive answers. 
Everyone seemed to enjoy the tour and all we spoke to said they got a lot out of it. 

We went to the Metreon for lunch and gave students free time to explore. They all came back to the designated meeting place on time and the trip back was fun. 



https://goo.gl/photos/knYRDhUM9gVrsrz56

two of our students Rickey and Anthony

Preview YouTube video Changing The Game For Young Black Males In America

Changing The Game For Young Black Males In America