The “Game
Changer” Conference for Young Males on Saturday, April 14 was a tremendous
success. The conference was
unprecedented and was the first “impact
conference” for all males of this magnitude held in Montgomery County,
Maryland. Approximately 225 male
students from Montgomery County and as far as West Virginia to the west,
Baltimore and Annapolis Maryland were uplifted, inspired, and encouraged to commit
themselves to excellence as a person, student and athlete in all their undertakings.
The visionary behind
the impact conference was a husband and wife team, Donald
and Mona Williams (both Divine Nine Greek Members), Co-Founders of Unity
Christian Fellowship (UCF) saw a
critical need to mobilize the community around the vital challenge of saving our young
males by working together to find solutions to reverse the trend
regarding the alarming and unfavorable disparities of African-American
and Hispanic males in education. UCF is a community
base, nonprofit youth development organization that promotes student success
and focuses on Youth Development activities throughout the year. UCF operates in Gaithersburg and celebrates
five years of promoting student success that “changes lives in the community
one student at a time.”
We worked tirelessly
to bring the community together around this extremely important issue. Donald Williams, former Head Basketball Coach at Montgomery
College of approximately 10 years, believes this is a “battle that we can win if the community comes together
to work with parents to help our male students reach their potential in all
areas of their lives.” He also states “that with the
increasing demands of the 21st Century, it requires that our youth,
start at a younger age, especially our male students, to be better leaders and
make smart choices with positive consequences.” UCF is one of a kind organization that
desires to build “strategic alliances” with like-minded organizations and
groups who work directly with our young people to be a “solution.”
The conference was
Co sponsored by Montgomery College, (A Partnerships
for Inter-Faith and Community Service), Mu Nu Chapter of Omega Psi Phi
Fraternity who is in partnership with President Obama’s White House Fatherhood
and Mentoring Initiative Program, and UCF Youth Development Organization. UCF is making a major impact in the
Gaithersburg and Metropolitan region with three major programs: Aim High In Life Education and Life Skills
Program, Christian Youth Basketball Ministry and the Game Changer Impact
Program. These three programs serves, disadvantaged, underserved,
and minority youth from Montgomery County Communities. Our students are between the ages of 3rd
grade, middle school to high school ages.
The program exposes our youth, especially our male students to
opportunities that they may not otherwise have.
The success of the one-day
conference geared towards African-American and
Hispanic young male students was the direct result of the “grass root” support
and effort from the community. Donald
Williams, Executive Director for UCF Youth Development Organization stated “we
demonstrated that this is an extremely important issue to parents and community
leaders - saving our boys is vital!
We are so proud of the local churches, sororities and fraternities, like-minded youth outreach
programs, and athletic programs.” He
also stated, friends, family members, church members, principals and teachers
played a role with information sharing.
We are working toward next year to increase participation from local youth
organizations and MCPS schools to support the Game Changer Conference for Young
Males.
The President of Montgomery
College, Dr. DeRionne P. Pollard, delivered the welcome which emphasized
student preparation. The
Baslieus, Mr. David Hill presented the greeting on behalf of brothers from Mu Nu Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity,
Inc. that totals approximately 100
professional Africa American Men who live, work, and serve in Montgomery
County. Mr. Hill, who was the classmate
of President Barack Obama, emphasized to the students the importance of setting
and maintaining high standards of excellence, as a person, student and athlete.
Mr. Hill shared that the President Obama has called the nation to action
on this extremely important issue that directly impacts our community. He has selected Omega Psi Phi Fraternity,
Inc., to provide leadership to raise community awareness and promote
partnerships supporting the Fatherhood and Mentorship Program Initiative. Mr.
Hill closed his remarks sharing the fraternity four Cardinal Principles: Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance, and Uplift.
The event started at 8 a.m. with three Life Skills Stations
during the first hour. Brothers of Mu Nu Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity,
Inc. taught the young males to tie ties. Omega
chapter brothers showed the boys how to interact and conduct themselves during
a 30 second interview and then had the young males conducted the
interview. The third Life Skills
station, was the “Handshake” with good eye contact and a firm grip was
conducted by young men that attend Montgomery College. Dr. Clemmie Solomon, Montgomery College Dean
of Student Service award gifts to the top students in the three Life Skills
Stations. Some of the activities for the one-day
conference coordinated by Professor Clif McKnight followed: Leadership,
Teamwork and Development, Fatherhood session on responsibilities, The Playbook: Game Plan for the
Winning Man, Seven Study Skills Strategies, Clearing House and Eligibility
Requirement Awareness, Racial Profiling
“Are You a Willing Participant, Academic Performance, SAT/ACT, and Test
Taking Strategies and Bulling Strategies in School.
Our speakers for the
one-day conference were inspirational and motivational. They gave life shaping advice to help change
the attitude of young students. The
impact conference overall mission was to help prepare young males for a “Game
Changer” experience by helping them build the confidence, competencies, and
values they need to get to graduate from high school and then the next level “college”
and become a Success Story.
For additional information on UCF
Youth Development planned activities throughout the year contact Donald
Williams at any time at (301) 641-7261 and/or visit our web site at http://www.ucfinc.org, http://www.cybm.net. and/or (go to http://www.munuques.org/fatherhood and click Social Actions, fatherhood Initiative
link. We invite you to join this journey
of excellence.