Boys to Men An Enrichment Program at Cook Elementary School

1. Boys to MenAn Enrichment Program at Cook Elementary School An Elaboration on the Program’s Mission

2. What is Boys to Men? • Boys to Men is an enrichment program at Ed S. Cook Elementary School for fourth and fifth grade boys, who are pre-selected by their teachers.

3. What is the overall mission of Boys to Men? • The overall mission of the program is to guide adolescent boys into the greatness of manhood by encouraging them to be community servants who are self-motivated, confident, and critical thinkers.

4. Why community service? • To whom much is given, much is required. • Community service is one of the best ways to nurture and develop boys into authentic men. • The programs motto is “I am because we are.” What better way to enact that motto then through service?

5. How is self-motivation encouraged? • The boys are active participants in maintaining the program’s operations • Through entrepreneurial services, the boys raise money for their YMCA activities and various field trips.

6. How is confidence nurtured and developed? • Through the program’s service activities, the boys operate in the roles in which they are best suited. Primary roles are centered around the following subjects: • Writing • Graphic Design • Technology • Marketing • Communications • Financial Management

7. How are critical thinking skills developed? • Throughout all areas of the program, the boys are required to think critically via: • Service activities • Reading activities • Meditation and Exercise

8. Boys to Men A concluding insight • “Boys have dreams. They dream; they think; they wonder; they build unreal worlds in their mind. Only men have visions, and visions become the instrument for human, societal, collective thinking. If you want to be who you are, then be a man, and the world will be transformed by you.” - Dr. Naim Akbar’s Visions for Black Men, Psychologist and Motivational Speaker