Precinct Reporter Group News

Top Menu

  • Precinct Reporter News
  • Food
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
  • Subscribe
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Precinct Reporter News
  • Food
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy

logo

Precinct Reporter Group News

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
  • Subscribe
  • Black Rose Awards Set For Sat., February 4

  • OC Black History Parade & Unity Festival

  • LBCC Students Get Ready for Male Success Initiative

  • Advocates Address Rise in Suicide for Black Males

  • Cops Search Black Teens 6X More Than White Peers

Latest PRGNews
Home›Latest PRGNews›Mentors Ramp Up For Kids

Mentors Ramp Up For Kids

By Precinct Reporter News
August 30, 2017
2542
0
Share:

By Dianne Anderson

To get into the heads of the Z Generation, today’s most challenged teens, requires more than a one size fits all approach. It takes a lot of style, something that Sigma Beta Xi has more than enough to go around.

Programming got off the ground six years ago, and since then students have been served in Rialto, Moreno Valley, Perris, Hemet, and Riverside campuses.

“We’re on 15 different campuses in the Inland Empire, and we mentor 200 kids every week,” said Corey Jackson, founder and CEO for Sigma Beta Xi, Inc.

Today, he said the organization is a half million dollar nonprofit employing many professionalized mentors in part time jobs.

A good part of the program’s success is also that he and other graduates that run the programming are still young enough to relate to the local kids.

“Definitely, we come from the same communities and schools that they come from, and we were mentored exactly the same way,” Jackson said.

Working with sixth through 12th graders, they also serve a large swath of need, specifically targeting at-risk students, kids in foster care, and students on probation. Jackson said 100 percent of their Sigma Beta Xi graduates have gone on to college.

Some choose the military, or attend community college while working a side job. They have access to their mentors going into college and a career coach.

“We tell them that taking a break or getting a minimum wage job is not an option,” he said. “They have to have a plan before they graduate.”

Back in 1998 when Jackson was just a sophomore at Rialto High School, he was the first student recruited into the Sigma Beta club by recently retired Rialto teacher, Ernest Rhone IV.  The club was initially named after the national program created by Phi Beta Sigma.

Over time, local programming expanded, graduates went on to start their careers, and realized how valuable the experience was for their own lives. They created the nonprofit to help other students find the way.

Jackson, who is also president of the 100 Black Men of the Inland Empire, said that word of mouth is also growing that program, which offers academics, and much more.

Mentoring Black teens today is critical. The risk is real, and growing at an alarming rate.

“We know African American kids suffer from anxiety and anger, depression rates, but that goes with the territory. Being Black in America, you’re going to have that daily feeling because this country was not made for us,” he said.

Recently, “the 100” finished its Saturday Academy at Cal Baptist University where students received two months of guidance in mentoring, education, economic empowerment, and health and wellness.

With the start of the new school year, they are continuing the partnership at the university, and holding regular weekly mentoring sessions at the nearby Chemawa Middle School.

The 100 BMIE program is based on a strategic model of the 100 Black Men of Orange County’s Passport to the Future program, under the charter founder, Dr. Thomas Parham.

In the Inland Empire program, local boys will meet Saturdays twice a month, which includes a Rites of Passage, along with a national office agreement with the Boy Scouts of America to extend partnerships in local programming.

The 100 BMIE serves about 20 kids with weekly mentoring, and launches Saturday Academy by the end of August. In October, they will also collaborate with other organizations for a Million Man Meditation in Riverside focused on health, introduction to yoga meditation and mindfulness.

He said that they are taking applications for their Saturday Academy, which is open for African American boys across the Inland Empire. Students will receive educational assistance in cultural heritage, positive identity development, health and nutrition, and financial literacy.

In the near future,  he also hopes to convene with other nonprofits to approach funders about increasing support to Black programs, even as Black and Native American kids are the highest risk kids. He feels the issue needs to be part of a larger community conversation.

“We aren’t into the rhetoric, we want to see something tangible. We know that philanthropists in the Inland Empire are not making significant investments in turning around the alarming data for African American children,” he said.

For information on Sigma Beta Xi or “the 100,” email Mr. Jackson at 100bmie@gmail.com

Tags100 Black Meneducationmentorsprecinct reportersouthern California
Previous Article

NNPA Issues Call to Support Gulf Area ...

Next Article

Riverside BackPack Giveaway

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Precinct Reporter News

Related articles More from author

  • Latest PRGNews

    Students Win With Backpack Giveaways

    July 25, 2019
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Rialto: New Hotel and More To Come

    December 2, 2021
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    E-KAAMP: Job Opportunities for Special Needs Community

    October 14, 2021
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Pomona Black History Month Lineup

    January 24, 2019
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    House Chair Waters: Return Consumer Protection to CFPB

    March 14, 2019
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Dr. Soraya M. Coley Named “Woman of the Year”

    April 21, 2022
    By Precinct Reporter News

You might be interested

  • Latest PRGNews

    White House Says $44B Still Available to Avoid Evictions

  • Latest PRGNews

    100 Black Men Pursue Prostate Mobile Units for Early Detection

  • Latest PRGNews

    Hesabu Circle: The Future of Space Math and Jobs

Ads

Advertise with us!

Ads ||

Ads |

ADS III

Find us on Facebook

Ads

Precinct Reporter News Group

Your local news resource for 50 years in the Inland Empire, Orange County, Long Beach and surrounding areas!

To subscribe or advertise, call 909.889.0597

About us

  • Broadcasting & Media Production Company
    357 W. 2nd Street
    San Bernardino, California, CA 92401
  • mailto:sales@precinctreporter.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Black Rose Awards Set For Sat., February 4

    By Precinct Reporter News
    January 26, 2023
  • OC Black History Parade & Unity Festival

    By Precinct Reporter News
    January 26, 2023
  • LBCC Students Get Ready for Male Success Initiative

    By Precinct Reporter News
    January 26, 2023
  • IE/OC Prostate and Breast Cancer, Change the Menu

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015
  • Join our Recipe Competition!

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015
  • SB Budget Cuts CDBG

    SB CDBG Cuts Have Local Nonprofits Braced for the Worst

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015

Follow us

© Powered by Hotspotwebsites.net. All rights reserved.