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CIP Community Engagement
Partner Institution: Claflin University
Activity: Team Mentoring Through School-Based Character
Clubs
Character Clubs, an
empowerment intervention for young black females and males, was designed
to take into account African-American culture and its crucial role in
fostering socialization, and aims to help at-risk females and males
transition into young ladies and gentlemen who are productive and
successful in all of their endeavors. These clubs, The Gentlemen’s
Club and the G.I.R.L.S. Club (Girls Involved in Reaching Life Success),
serve as a lifeline for young men and women who often "fall through the
cracks."
A mentoring team located at
each of the Character Clubs' target schools includes the school
counselor, the GEAR UP school site coordinator, a club facilitator, GEAR
UP counselors, and two consultants from the Visionary Leaders’
Institute. The clubs meet at school once weekly with the local
facilitators and once monthly with the consultants from the Visionary
Leaders’ Institute. The club participants and mentors also engage
in cultural and social activities in the evenings and on
weekends.
School counselors in
collaboration with teachers, school administrators, and GEAR UP select
30 boys and 30 girls in grades 6–8 at the two GEAR UP target
middle schools. The curriculum, embedded in the six core ethical values
of character education and cultural heritage, includes more than 40
learning modules and activities, which guide the students through all
areas of academic, social, and personal development. Students receive
weekly progress reports from teachers and parents, which are used to
track progress toward program and personal objectives. Leaning modules
include self-esteem, resisting peer pressure, goal planning and positive
decision making, classroom survival, career exploration, etiquette,
community service, and academic study skills. Through small and large
group sessions, students have an opportunity to examine their values and
the roles these values play in a decision-making process.
For Additional Information:
Please contact Clafin
University's College Is Possible liaison, Wilda Robinson, at wrobinson@claflin.edu.
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