Educational and Mentoring Programs

Please find below a list of positive programs that are available to help African-American youth that did not exist a generation or two ago. Here are some that might interest you--if not for your own children, then maybe for your grandchildren.

Bakersfield College now has programs that work specifically with Black Students:

1. African-American Mentor Program: This program is dedicated to the success of African American male students on the BC campus. https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/student/aai/aamp

2. Umoja: African-American Success Through Excellence and Persistence (ASTEP): is a program that integrates academics, support services and African-American culture. We seek to educate the whole student — body, mind and spirit — through an ethic of love. https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/student/aai/astep

3. UC Davis Pipeline was started to enroll more black students from Bakersfield into UCD. UC Davis faculty is working hand in hand with faculty and staff from Bakersfield College and the Kern High School District, including Project B.E.S.T. and the BSU.

KHSD (Kern High School District) which had a history of not treating black students well now has several programs that focus on the success of the black student.

1. Project B.E.S.T.: Is a high school program geared towards assisting black male students in successfully completing the A-G university entrance requirements. Meeting these requirements while meeting the high school graduation requirements is the goal of this program. It helps African-American males by encouraging them to strive towards academic excellence and good attendance--starting with the freshman year. It offers many enrichment activities and acquaints students with educational opportunities, like the University of California programs at Berkley & at UC Davis that offer special recruitment of black students from this area. They also assist students with college applications, preparation for the SAT and the ACT tests, and preparation for making scholarship applications. https://www.kernhigh.org/apps/pages/project-best

1A. Project B.E.S.T. offers a $1,000 State Seal of Bi-literacy Scholarship for any black male who earns the SSB gold seal. This gold seal is awarded to students who successfully complete four years of a foreign language program while in high school. This gold seal may be used to ask for better pay from certain jobs through Kern County! (Woo—Hoo!)

2. Black Students Union--student clubs that target black students and inspires them to be better students. The BSU is a statewide organization that also has scholarships for students, given at high-level educational conferences! It has clubs at the different campuses throughout the city.

3. Bakersfield Ivy Legacy Foundation presents a free, power-packed conference to help orient exemplary eighth grade students into the high school & college experience. Our very own Dr. Johnson will be a key-note speaker on August 11! This conference is by invitation only and is supported jointly by local sororities, the Ivy Legacy Foundation, BSU, Project B.E.S.T. and the local Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

I trust that your family is aware of these programs and taking full advantage of them!

Programs like these are in Bakersfield and throughout the state of California!

Use the Contact Form if you have questions or need more information.

#school #enrichmentprograms #college #scholarship #Mentor