[BHS Etree] ADMIN: APRIL 13 Forum addressing the Crisis Facing our African American and Latino Young Men

Sat Mar 16 18:32:41 PDT 2013

PLEASE do not reply to this email, contact Jorge Melgoza,
jorgemelgoza at berkeley.net 

On Saturday, April 13th from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. we are planning to sponsor a
summit, a call to action if you will, to bring attention to the fact that
many of our young men of color are still struggling, not just academically
but socially/emotionally at BHS. In addition to the keynote speaker,
workshops will be provided for both students and parents so please register
for the event if you are willing to be part of the solution.  You can
register at BHSLeadershipForum at gmail.com or stop by the BHS Front Desk for a
registration form.  

The summit is meant to go beyond "talking" about the problem and move
towards taking ownership for the problem.  The summit is the first layer in
a multi-layered response to the issue.  Berkeley High School, in
collaboration with the Berkeley Alliance and BUSD - The Office of Family
Engagement and Equity is working together to finally interrupt the racial
predictability of success. This summit is simply the beginning. 

The next layer is about enrolling those interested students into a year long
Literature Class.  There will be an application process to determine their
willingness to receive mentoring and become leaders in their community.
They will learn about character and leadership through their exposure to the
rich and diverse narratives found in our African American and Latino
Culture, most importantly they will learn how to become the great leaders of
the future by learning from the great men of the past. 

This event is not meant to "solve the problem" affecting all our young men
of color at BHS in a year or to enroll everyone interested; we don't have
that capacity yet.  This program, this class, this event is designed with
the understanding that all of our students even our high achieving students
of color need a counter narrative to the images and messages that belittle
and deny them an opportunity to take pride in being African American and
Latino.  Students need to be exposed to curriculum that goes beyond simply
covering units on Slavery or Immigration and delves deeper into the rich and
long contributions made by our Latino and African American Communities to
this country in all subjects.  

This event is about Berkeley High School making a concerted effort to
support our young men of color.  It is about one community, one school, one
class, one group of mentors but, more importantly, one group of students
working together to make a difference.  We will begin on a small scale and
over time work on calibrating our resources and refining our process.  

In order to kick off this event we are inviting Baruti Kafele.  "Principal
Kafele is an award-winning educator, internationally-renowned speaker and
best-selling author.  Principal Baruti Kafele is on fire! He's on a personal
mission to motivate, educate and empower educators, parents and children
toward the elimination of the attitude gap, the world over.

A highly-regarded urban public school educator in New Jersey for over twenty
years, Principal Kafele distinguished himself in the classroom and as a
school leader. As an elementary school teacher in East Orange, NJ, he was
selected as the East Orange School District and Essex County Public Schools
Teacher of the Year.   As a middle and high school principal, he led the
transformation of four different schools, including "The Mighty" Newark
Tech, which went from a low-performing school in need of improvement to
national recognition by the National Association of State Directors of
Career Technical Education, and U.S. News and World Report Magazine
recognizing it three times as one of America's best high schools."
Additional information can be found on his website at
(www.principalkafele.com). 

The last piece to the approach is recruiting a large number of mentors who
are willing and able to provide our young men support throughout the year.
Students will have opportunities to hear from other mentors throughout the
year.  We are calling on our men in Berkeley and the surrounding community
to make a direct impact on this problem by committing to be present in their
lives and most importantly present at Berkeley High.  

The counter narrative we propose is simple: teach them how to read and write
using a culturally relevant curriculum, teach them how to think, provide
them with mentors, teach them how to rise up when they stumble, and they
will, and then get out of their way.  In addition to literacy and character
this program is meant to provide them with a mentor and the leadership
skills necessary to make a difference, not only in their lives, but in their
community.  

In addition to the keynote speaker, workshops will be provided for both
students and parents so please register for the event if you are willing to
be part of the solution.  You can register at BHSLeadershipForum at gmail.com
or stop by the BHS Front Desk for a registration form.  

Respectfully, 

Jorge Melgoza

Vice Principal

Berkeley High School

510-644-8744

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