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HomeGame Changers 2012 Highlights

Game Changers Conference 2012 Highlights

 
Overview Video of the entire Conference:


Study Skills Workshop Video:




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.