Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) and community organizations are reaching out to the community for volunteer mentors to assist young, at-risk men of color through a new campaign initiative called “Saving Our Sons – I will not die young.”
The campaign, which took flight today at the Coffee Makes You Black coffee shop in Milwaukee, aims to increase attendance, reduce suspensions, and improve academic achievement and school engagement of at-risk students of color.
“This is part of a larger initiative to increase students’ engagement in their school communities,” said MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton. “We’re being proactive – creating school cultures in which students feel they have a vested interest. The Saving Our Sons effort specifically is targeted at young men of color because of the alarming levels of violence in the community and the academic struggles – involving and affecting these young men.”
Organizers of the campaign hope to expand their objectives to young women and grow existing student leadership causes that are helping students make academic strides throughout MPS.
Flood the Hood with Dreams, Inc. will manage each chapter of the campaign at 10 MPS high schools with help from other community groups.
Participating high schools are Bradley Tech, Hamilton, Morse Marshall, North Division, Pulaski, Riverside, Rufus King, South Division, Vincent and Washington Information Technology.
Interested volunteer mentors will have an opportunity for training by 100 Black Men of Milwaukee at an information and training session on Monday, Jan. 21 from 1 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the MPS District Headquarters, 5225 W. Vliet St. in Milwaukee. To register for the free session, visit http://mps100.eventbrite.com. Contact MPS volunteer coordinator Heather Aschoff with questions at 414-773-9823.
