In the Spring of 2010, author and radio personality Michael Baisden’s 1 Million Mentors Campaign was held in Chattanooga. He challenged the attendees with the following statement, “What are you going to do when I leave Chattanooga?”
A group of men from various organizations (e.g fraternities, 100 Black Men, Shriners, Masons, service organizations, etc.), with an interest in helping young African-American males become successful and productive adults, began planning in May, 2010, a Boys’ Leadership Summit to be held in October, 2010. The Boys’ Leadership Summit targets males in grades 6-12 and will involve workshops, training and other activities to help attendees learn to cope with issues and problems facing youth today. Last year, over 225 boys, 50 parents and 125 men attended this event.
The 3rd Annual Boys Leadership Summit will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at UTC’s University Center. The summit for boys and parents will address:
Keynote Speaker – Eric Foster – Local musician and radio personality for Brewer Broadcasting
Education issues, including the importance of attendance, attitudes and academic achievement
The Mystery of Hip-Hop: Me Against Myself
Sow a Thought Reap An Action
Boys in the Hoodies
Shoot cameras, not guns
Wellness and fitness
Social Media – Do’s & Don’t
Roundtable discussion – sponsored by the Gang Taskforce
Relationships, including self-respect and respect for others
Approximately 300 middle and high school boys and their parents are expected to attend.
Men involved with the BLS have the collective will to come together to take ownership of the problems facing youth in the community. There is not a lack of mentoring organizations; there is a lack of boys and men involved with the existing mentoring organizations. BLS will partner with existing established mentoring organization in th community to refer boys who attend the BLS and provide access to mentors who can get involved with their program, officials said.
Partnering Mentor Organizations:
Big Brother Big Sisters of Chattanooga
Boys and Girls Club of Chattanooga
A Better Tomorrow
OnPoint
Goodwill Mentor Program
V-Team
Stop the Madness / Men of Vision
Multicultural Youth Training & Development Foundation
The BLS will work with these existing mentoring organizations to track outcome and success of boys who are referred to their programs and men who sign up to volunteer.
This event is free to all middle/high school age boys and their parents to attend. There will be free breakfast, lunch and souvenirs for registered attendees. Early registration will reduce the amount of wait time for attendees and assist with better serving the high volume of people who will attend this event. Attendees can pre-register by visiting the BLS website, www.boysleadershipsummit.webs.com. On-site registration will be available the day of the event.
Also, all boys who attend will have the opportunity to attend the UTC vs. Georgia Southern football game at 6 p.m., at Finley Stadium.
For additional information, visit the BLS website, www.boysleadershipsummit.webs.com, or contact Temus Terry at 316-0698.