Middle and High School Cohort
Guiding Our Future Toward Successful College Completion
The African American Male Academy (AAMA) identifies, recruits and inducts African American male students into a culture of inclusive excellence biennially. Starting in middle school, n=50 African American male 8th-graders in good academic standing, will be selected via an application process. The objective of the Middle and High School Cohort is to increase college readiness amongst Black boys and create a pathway to college entrance through early exposure to academic & career options, faculty mentoring, and integration into college life.
Applications are accepted biennially (once every two years).
What makes this unique?
- The creation of a hub of inclusive excellence that exposes middle school boys to African American professors and staff to engage them in research
- A cohort of middle school boys to facilitate social interaction with peers and goal orientation to college completion – a departure from other programs that begin at the high school level
- A strengths-based model for positive youth development grounded in an ethic of care and love - a departure from the deficit-based model that tends to dominate the teaching of African American boys
Benefits of Participation
- Exposure to a college environment and African American professors
- Leadership development/career readiness/self-efficacy through mentorship and education
- Overcome traditional barriers to academic achievement (for example, mastery of mathematics) and to develop racial pride/self-awareness
- Improve health, wellness, fitness and financial literacy through education
- Develop career readiness through mentorship
- Develop scholar identity-view of self as intellectual
Participant Requirements
- Monthly on-campus Saturday workshops
Curriculum includes:
- Cultural/community experiences
- Summer bridge to high school and college
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