Prince Frederick, MD – There is much talk about the minority achievement gap in America. The statistics are stark. Caucasian males graduate from high school at a rate 21 percent higher than their African-American counterparts.
A group of male Calvert High School (CHS) students are doing more than just talking about it. Their academic activism is addressing the problem in their home community.
“Our students mentor other students,” said CHS Principal Dr. Susan Johnson of the Minority Achievement Committee (MAC) Scholars. “Our MAC students are leaders who grow others.”
The CHS group is one of many MAC Scholars chapters that have formed nationwide since the 1990s. The original group was started by several academically achieving African-American males at an Ohio high school.
Calvert High’s MAC Scholars’ group was started during the 2009-2010 school year.
The CHS MAC Scholars consists of upperclassmen serving as mentors to freshmen and sophomores as well as students at the high school’s feeder middle and elementary schools.
On Friday, Jan. 30 CHS’ MAC Scholars hosted a community dinner at the high school. The repast was followed by a one-hour program in the school’s auditorium.
“You have set a high bar,” said Guffrie Smith, a member of the Maryland Board of Education who gave a presentation as part of the program. “There’s hardly a reason for you to fail right now. It’s good to see you all having this self-confidence.”
Smith, a retired Calvert County Public Schools’ administrator who currently mentors youth through the Calvert Collaborative for Children and Youth Inc., encouraged the young men to not confine their activities to school. He noted such school adjunct organizations like faith-based youth groups and Boy Scouts also provide activities that spur achievement.
Smith presented the program participants and audience members with copies of Search Institute’s “40 Developmental Assets.” The assets are categorized in eight areas of human development. The asset types include such components as support, empowerment, commitment to learning, positive values and positive identity. There is also an “asset checklist” with 40 items to inventory. Search Institute states that there is nothing scientific about the checklist, which includes “I know some nonparent adults I can go to for advice and support,” “I care about my school,” and “I tell the truth even when it’s not easy.”
Smith said if a school-age child can truthfully check off 31 of the 40 assets on the checklist he is doing well. “It’s not where you are it’s where you end up,” said Smith.
“I see so much growth in all these guys,” said Keith Gross Sr., the father of three MAC scholars. During his emotional address to the gathering Gross told the students “no one said this was going to be easy. Discipline is what’s going to make you better.”
In addition to reading inspiring poems, offering musical selections and testimony about how the MAC Scholars program has helped them, the student presenters offered current data as a demonstration that the strategy of having each other’s backs in the education realm is paying off. At CHS the number of suspensions (in and out of school) among African-American males is decreasing while the numbers for enrollment in advanced placement courses is dramatically on the rise.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com