Local project to give black male students an opportunity to grow

The 100 Black Men of Madison is introducing a new program this semester designed to help African American students in the Madison Metropolitan School District.

The Madison chapter is the only and very first group within the 100 Black Men to implement Project Student Opportunities and Readiness (SOAR).

Project SOAR is designed to provide opportunities for black students, ages 12-17, in either a middle school or high school within MMSD. According the website, the program will focus on students with economic disabilities, from single parent homes, struggling with homelessness, involved in foster care or involved in the justice system.

J.R. Sims, the chair of the public relations committee with the 100 Black Men of Madison, said 70 percent of black children in Madison are economically challenged or come from economically challenged families.

He said a lot of times there are problems for these students outside of the classroom, including lack of reliable transportation, parents who work long hours and un-affordable housing, which can cause problems in class.

“We know that these kids have a problem, a problem learning, but oftentimes the problem doesn’t start in school,” Sims said. “The problem isn’t that we have a problem learning, it’s that we have a problem living.”

Sims said the students that will be involved with the program will most likely be identified by a third-party person like a teacher or a guidance counselor.

Once a kid’s name is in the criminal justice system it is there for a long time, so it can cause problems trying to get a job in the future. Sims said this often causes a deeper spiral into the crime system.

“Minor crimes once thrown into the justice system could very well lead down a path where you will be committing major crimes sooner or later,” he said.

There are three main components to Project SOAR: one-to-one mentoring, the career academy and the success academy. Sims said each initiative will be tailored to the individual student on a case-by-case basis.

The one-to-one mentoring will depend on what the mentee needs and the resources available. The career academy will introduce students to different occupational choices like police sciences and education. The success academy will provide students with instruction on topics emphasizing how to have productive lives.

“Projects that students will be participating in will be tailored to the kid on a case-by-case basis,” Sims said. “What that mentor does with that mentee that’s going to be primarily dependent on what the mentee needs and the resources available to that mentor.”

Sims said 100 Black Men of Madison are trailblazers because no one else has created a programmatic solution to help the achievement gap of American American youth.

Partnering with 100 Black Men of Madison is MMSD, the City of Madison My Brother’s Keeper, United Way of Dane County, Madison Police Department, Dane County Executive’s Office, Asset Builders, Madison Fire Department, African American Fraternities and Sororities, CUNA Mutual Group, AT&T, Michels Corporation Schneider National and Convenience Electronics.

Sims said one of the benefits to the program is the opportunity for students to see people who look similar to them in various particular careers.

“It sparks an idea in a young 12-year-old’s brain ‘wow ok I can do that too, I could be something like that if I wanted to be’,” Sims said.