African American High School Mentoring Programs Young Ladies of Excellence (YLE) & Continued Academic Excellence Program (CAEP)

Observation - Interviews Observed African American male mentoring meeting at Lincoln HS. 1 st Interview: Coordinator for Black males mentoring programs at Lincoln and Morse HS 2 nd Interview: Coordinator for the Black females mentoring program at Scripps Ranch HS

Program Background Females Titled Young Ladies of Excellences (YLE) Coordinator is African American female 1996 Grad of Morse HS Coordinator is a College Grad (SDSU) and has a Masters in Education. Mentoring Program meets Bi-weekly at Scripps Ranch HS

Program Background Males Titled Continued Academic Excellence Program (CAEP) Coordinator is a Black male 2000 Morse HS Grad Coordinator is a College Grad (Hampton) & a Current Grad Student (USD) Program meet bi-monthly at lunch rotating each week between Morse & Lincoln HS

Mentoring Program Format (Females & Males). Mentoring sessions are seminars that focus on study skills, academic achievement, preparing for college, professional development, and positive attitudes. Meetings feature guest speakers from the community and professional communities of San Diego.

Purpose/Reasoning for Interview Selections African American females are outperforming African American males academically in high school and in college. Sought to discover if this phenomenon would be observable within these two programs. Would there be observable differences between the two groups of students?

Theme 1 “ Fulfilling A Need ” was a major theme with both coordinators. Needs such as “Cultural Capital” and “Tools for Success.” Both coordinators felt that students lack resource counselors and guidance outside of standard academics. “Essentially, I think that for us its key to let them know that they have resources, and they can make it into college and they can go to any school, and that they can have any career that they want. Our goal is for these lessons to assure the students of this.” (Male)

Significant Codes for Theme 1: African American / Minority Student Need Black female student need Black Male need Fulfilling need Goal / desired outcome for students Tools for success

Theme 2. “Needs for Program Success” was a major theme. Began to see Major Differences between the female and male coordinator approach when examining codes within this category. Very Interesting to note that the code “Needs for Program Success” varied widely between females and males.

Theme 2 Cont. (Males) Program Need is a Motivated Student: “Some students just want to be cool and not feel that they have to work hard for what they get.” “A lot of students have the idea that things come easy and that they do not have to work hard.” “Use free food (Pizzas) to entice students to attend meetings.”

Theme 2 Cont. (Females) Program Need: Motivated Student… “Its a huge role because, I mean, one, its their lunchtime so the girls are really hungry and we've seen that. Some of them will run and go get their lunch, and some of them would even bring their lunch but they're always eating in the meetings but we know that they're hungry. So if we can tackle that and already have that (lunch) prepared then we can maximized our time together.” - Important to note that coordinator is stating that (female) students would still show up to these meeting even with no food.

Significant Codes for Theme 2: Needs for Program Success Example of resource value Obstacles Impeding Goals Target Population for Goals

Theme 3 “Past Experiences (+) Influence on Present” Significant theme because both coordinator participated in similar programs as HS Students. Highlights the lasting influence programs such as these have on the lives of its participants. Influenced the structures of current programs. Influenced how they assessed the effectiveness of the current programs.

Theme 3 Cont. “Past Experiences (+) Influence on Present” (Female) “Um, well growing up as an African American girl myself, I know that there are issues and things that I went through growing up and, I had support for in school and outside of school.” (Male) “So I definitely think (that) my participation in these programs in high school gave me different pieces of the puzzle that I needed to become a well rounded individual.”

Significance of Quotes Came from two volunteers working for free to better the lives of other people’s children. Testament that these programs have substantial value

Significant Codes for Theme 3 Past experiences (+) Influence on the Present Personal Assessment Personal Connection to Goal Personal Convictions