100 Kings
Client: 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee
2019
Education: Dream BLDRS
The 100 Black Men of Middle Tennessee have invested into the lives of young black males in middle school and high school since 1991.The 100 Kings program is a mentorship program that instills life-long skills into young men while providing the necessary resources to better prepare them for college.
In this program, behavior and academic progress (in school) for each young male involved is taken note of. By 2018 about 50% of Black men 25 and older had been to college although just over half (54%) of them actually completed a degree compared to 60% of ‘all men’ who attended college, two-thirds of which (66%) have completed a degree.The program begins at the 5th grade level, where male students are required to engage in until the finish of their senior year in high school.
At Aspire, our solution was to use Dream BLDRS, a curriculum based series of highly interactive activities geared towards students’ dreams and aspirations, to direct a more focused lens on what the young men of 100 Kings ultimately wanted to accomplish in life.
Objectives
Development of young minds, the Instillation of skills that have withstood the test of time, and an increase in self-confidence is what drives Aspire to be the most suitable force in education.
- Develop young minds
- Install new skills
- Increase self-confidence
- Build soft-skills amongst metro Nashville professionals.
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IDEA
- We provided the young men with a three component approach to vision statement development: BIG, UNREALISTIC, HELP OTHERS.
- A curated discussion on world issues, with the intentions of helping students identify their passion— “why”.
- Students submitted a strength assessment to find their personal tendencies and characteristics and how they can use them to aid in turning their dreams into a reality.
- Students used Aspire modules to identify conflict resolution and collaborative alignment to strength and weaknesses that they utilized for soft skills development.
Experience Highlights
- One day, 6-hour virtual workshop
- Mindfulness: Connection experience- intro to Aspire Institute, #DreamBLDRS
- #DreamBLDRS- composed of 4 sessions
- Digital interactive workbook
- Virtual Typeform Data Collection
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INSIGHT
Dream BLDRS was very much necessary for the young men of 100 Kings because the skills taught in this program are essential to growth in all aspects of their lives. The Aspire team used a classroom-like feel that would emphasize the importance of education.
Over the course of two 6 week sessions, Aspire’s Dream BLDRS program enhanced the lives of about 50-60 middle and high school males. Although we understood that our program was one that the young men needed to experience, certain elements were developed for those in attendance to understand our vision as well. In result, students involved in the Dream BLDRS program with 100 Kings received a certificate of completion that served as their “Diploma” for graduating from the program. This was a creative way to identify the young men that showed young men that showed an eagerness to evolve on a consistent basis.
According to the students, the Strength session of the Dream BLDRS program was the biggest take away for them. Students identified what animal they were, based off of an assessment through a module of questions in a survey. During the strength session, students discovered what their strengths and weaknesses were and when/how to effectively utilize them in particular situations that could benefit them in life. What we learned about the Kings was that the majority of them were identified as gorillas; meaning that they use a competitive, forceful conflict management style to accomplish goals. While others identified as different animals, they all discovered a new channel of themselves that birthed new ideas on how they could turn the dreams into physical existence.
DREAM BLDRS
IMPACT
- Students experienced a 91% growth in email etiquette from pre to post test.
- 38% of the young men were passionate and consistent in working towards their dreams and aspirations.
- 60% of the young men grew in their ability to identify their process and become familiar with it.
- 51% of the young men learned how to properly compose and send a professional email.
