Prepare for Men in Schools Volunteer Day

Prepare for Men in Schools Volunteer Day

Recently, Oprah Winfrey made international news with her remarks that she doesn’t go into inner-city American classrooms anymore because the students don’t value education. We disagree with Ms. Winfrey. At The Black Star Project, we know that inner-city students do value education and want to do well in school, but it is up to adults to encourage, inspire, and motivate them to succeed academically.

This is the reason that The Black Star Project is inviting tens of thousands of men, especially Black men, into schools on Friday, March 2, 2007, for the first annual Men In Schools Volunteer Day. At The Black Star Project, we know that if our children fail, America fails!

Boys, and especially Black boys, need strong, positive men who model educational excellence to successfully make the transition from boyhood to manhood. We have all heard the complaints about Black boys who equate getting good grades and achieving academic success with “acting White.” The Men In Schools Volunteer Day will show these young boys that education is a “Black thing.” Regardless of race, the more education a students gets, the more successful they will be.
The Men In Schools Volunteer Day is an extension of the three-year old Million Father March program that encourages men to take their children to school on the first day of the new school year. Last year, 127 cities participated in the event, and we estimate that 300,000 men took their children to schools in such cities as Indianapolis, Detroit, Charlotte, San Antonio, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Chicago. Our Million Father March 2006 was so popular that the Mayor of Minneapolis visited schools on the first day to greet the men who brought their children to school.
Men must become involved with the education of their children from birth to the time they finish their graduate or professional degree. Men must realize that learning is a life-long venture, that there are many lessons to be taught, and that men are as responsible as women for children’s education.

Research shows that children whose fathers take an active role in their educational lives earn better grades, get better test scores, enjoy school more, and are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college. Additionally, children have fewer behavior problems when fathers listen to and talk with their children regularly and are active in their lives.
A good father is part of a good parent team and is critical to creating a strong family structure. Strong family structures produce children who are more academically proficient, socially developed, and self-assured. Such children become adults who are valuable assets to their communities.

We believe at The Black Star Project that when men enter into schools that are female-dominated, the educational climate changes for the better. Students are more receptive and have fewer discipline problems. Young boys begin to identify education with masculinity. Young girls look at males as academic peers and, as a result, are better able to adopt standards for positive male/female interactions. For our Men In Schools Volunteer Day, men will volunteer as readers to young children, tutors to middle-school children, mentors to upper-grade students, and college, employment, parenting and financial coaches to high school students.

Friday, March 2, 2007, is Men In Schools Volunteer Day; we encourage businesses and other places of work to allow men to take two hours off on this Friday morning so they may volunteer at their neighborhood schools.
We also encourage Black people and all people to get your school, your church, your city, and your men involved in this program. For more information, please call The Black Star Project at 312-842-3527, email us at blackstar1000@ameritech.net, or visit the website at www.blackstarproject.org.