Holiday Party (100 BMC South & Westsides)

Mentees from both our West and Southside locations joined up at Chicago State University for our year end holiday party. We hosted a “game day” with Spades, Monopoly, Jenga, and finally a team Trivia competition, won by “Team Swag”. Everyone Received gift cards furnished by Wal-mart. Mentoring returns in early January.Happy Holidays.

Welcome Back - 2011-12 - September 17th, 2011

The South Side and West Side Saturday programs, are now underway. I want to thank site coordinators Andre Edmonds and Rodney McGee (South) and Warren McElroy and Tim Turner (West) helping to get us off to a good start. After the orientation with the parents, the students were informed about the College Scholarship Fair, and how they should not only participate, but help us market the event this fall. WE NEED TO SEE MORE MEMBERS, so please, when you can spare a Saturday morning from 10-12 please visit us at 1140 E. 87th St. or 501 N. Central (Austin YMCA).

Pre-Gala Session, Michele Clark, 5/3/2011

This week's session was jam-packed, as we continue our discussion on misogyny in hip-hop, as well as how women on portayed in the media. The session was dominated, though, by our preparation for the Annual Gala on Saturday, May 7th. Jaslyne McGlothin, the mentee hostess for the evening, dutifully practiced her presentation, and all of us brushed up on our fine-dining etiquette under the instruction of Chef Irving Brown. We also got a pleasant surprise when we were joined by his wife, Dr. Katherine Brown of the Coalition of 100 Black Women, making her second appearance this year, giving everyone words of encouragement. Finally we were joined by freelance writer LaRisa Lynch of the Austin Weekly, who is covering the Michele Clark program for an upcoming issue. Next session, we'll do a Gala re-cap, and talk about more college preparation types for our seniors.

Valparaiso University Tour

The 100 BMC Mentees toured Valparaiso University thanks to Mentor Phillip Powell who just happens to be an Assistant Professor of Communication. Professor Powell joined the VU Communication department in 1994 and teaches Broadcast Production, Broadcast News Production, Advanced Field Production, Documentary Production, Media Programming
and Television Producting/Directing. While we visited many of the campuses buildings such as the Library, Student Union and Chapel of the Resurrection, the highlight of the tour was undoubtedly the stop at the Valpo campus TV station. The mentees learned how to work professional cameras and production board, so that they could make a PSA.

Leadership and Accountability - Michele Clark 3/22/11

Good session last Tuesday; thank you Jaslyne, LaKenya, Kimberly, and Lavelle for attending. I enjoyed taking the yearbook photo with you all. As we discussed, our chapter had our Annual Summit for 2011 this past weekend, and we were taken through a team building exercise on leadership. We went through an abridged version of the coaching presentation, focusing specifically on accountability and knowing your power. For next session we'll be discussing the presentation further, going through the accountability exercise. We will also be announcing who the Gala attendees will be for this year - which is Saturday, May 7th. As your college acceptances keep coming through, please let us know!