Something for you. Thank you all of you for being with us this morning. Dr. Forman, if we can begin with you. Yes. Explain for us what this program is. I understand its mentoring. Whats the crux of the heart of the program . What are you doing . The program is desend aendde help the male students to find out more about themselves, to find out what skillsets it takes to be successful academically, socially, in their personal life, so we take a wholistic approach to wrap around services. Its not just mentoring from the point that one person speaks into their lives but we take the charge as a community. And we deposit into the young men. Brian, you helped to create the program. Yes. At prince georges. Tell us about your motivation . My motivation, i educator by trade. I had about 13 years of experience in the Charter School system in d. C. And when i left, i was very frustrated about seeing a lot of diverse males falling through the cracks and getting socially promoted where they really didnt have the skill sets to move on to the next grade level. When i got to prince georges and dr. Charlene dukes our College President told me would you like to create an aggressive male mentoring program, it literally met me where i was. I was already frustrated and she gave me the opportunity to build a platform. There are many mentoring programs and minority youth in particular benefit greatly from these. You mentioned the word aggressive. Right. What makes this program so much more aggressive . I know anthony can probably speak to that as well but my approach is very intrusive. I get to know you. Theres a cliche that says people dont care how much you know until they know how much you care. Its building relationships. If you dont them and care about them, thats why i call it aggressive, we aggressively look to get to know the young men where they are. We call it a coal to diamond process. Meet you where you are and move you up. Anthony, you were a coal and now a diamond. Tell us about your experience in the program . What did it do for you . Absolutely. Well, the program itself, did a lot for me. It allowed me to grow professionally and personally. As brian mentioned his energy, he allows us to speak to our passion that we want to do and allows us to have a purpose for college. Most of the colleges is just a place that we go that our parents force us to goed or we were told we were supposed to go. Brian allows us to identify what our passions are, use the classes and infrastructure the colleges provide us to provide us to the next level. Calls you one of his Great Success stories. Do you feel that way . I feel im just getting started. The program has done a l mortgage industry, but its personally, pro leshlly when i started i was raw, looking for mentorship and guidance and he came into my life when i needed him. I can say that the me you see now wasnt the me when brian first met. Theres been a transformation. A transformation. Dr. Forman and mr. Hamlin, how does your program take students fresh out of high school and come from different backgrounds and have different Life Experiences and tap into their psyche . Dr. Forman . I think what i have witnessed is brian introduces a concept to the young men and then he allows them to find their place within that concept and he meets them there and takes them to that next level. He doesnt do it alone which is a beautiful thing. He will find out what it is he needs to know and then hell tap into resources around campus. We can all have a part in it and so we just make sure that we before we make a move. Give us some more specific examples. When you when we talk about tapping into the psyche and really connecting with a student, getting to know that student. Someone told me theres two things people respond to. They respond to their first nation and passion. My fathers name is david and he loves tennis. I can keep his attention if i say david and refer to ten nis because thats his passion. I very quickly once i get to know them and a little bit about their background through one on ones we call them oneonone interviews and sessions, once i find out their passion i really try to foster a relationship built upon my belief to help you get that passion. Its a judgmentfree zone. Too often this world makes people feel different about their background, their ethnicity. We dont bring any of that. Its not called a black and latino program. It is a diverse male Population Program because it represents pr theres no judgment, judgmentfree zone. I dont care if you come in with a 1. 9 or 4. 0, i want to meet you where you are, respect you, i care about you and want to see you move forward. Its called the Diverse Male Student Initiatives at prince Georges Community college. Well be back in a moment. Welcome back. We are talking about a program this morning at prince Georges Community college called Diverse Male Student Initiatives, an aggressive mentoring program. I want to show you an example of what theyre doing. Going to school for four years, thats kind of a road less traveled. Its kind of odd in a way. Its not something that is commonly presented to young black males. We dont understand why were in college. I can do better but im not pushing here. The plain fact is there are some americans who in the aggregate are consistently doing worse in our society. I cant be successful if i cant write or spell. How long . Seven years. Adam came out with what i told you some of you guys are missing, urgency. I dont have time to waste. I see young men across the college every day and i know some are very focused and understand who they are and what they want. I know others we have to wrap our arms around them. For a lot of africanamericans, males that struggle, they dont always have the right people around them. Some of you have never seen this before, never had someone in your life who wants to see you win more than you do. We werent used to men on this campus holding us accountable. You show up to your classes but youre not giving 100 of yourself. I am get to get you when i see you. After im doing im going to embrace you like a brother and were going to k seriously. Im glad i came to Community College first because i was honest with myself. I wasnt ready for a four year. These young men have persevered longer in college, their grade point averages are rising. The attendance rate is 40 higher than the average student. My whole inner being, soul, body, associate degree now, back to the grind and get my bachelors. Stay committed to the journey. I guarantee youll become a better man, son, father, whatever your goals are. Diverse male student initiatives, now thats a 60minute documentary that was produced at the college. You did this over the course of a year . Yes. 2013 14 cohort. There is heavy stuff going on in those classes. Uhhuh. You saw clips that were in the documentary. We had the weekly workshop called gathering of them on tuesdays and wednesdays from 2 00 p. M. To im sorry 1 00 p. M. To about 3 00 p. M. We start the year off talking about goal setting, selfidentity, vision, work ethic and then we build them all the way up to the end of the year were talking about internships and graduation packets and seeking scholarships and graduation. Anthony, i saw you in there. It was an experience, something i cant really put into words. It was something that seeing all the men come together for one common cause it with was great because were all a group of individuals, we all have our own passions and destinies we have to follow but at the same time we get to lift each other up and seeing each other and being next to each other every day lets you know youre not alone. Thats what most of us have lacked the sense of family that you gained. Dr. Forman, we were talking during the commercial break how identifying with the young men and treating them with respect. Yes. When they first come into the over. Yes. The young men come in with, as we all do, with issues from our lives, our lens is different based on what it is we have experienced, and so the fact that we accept them for who they are, where theyve been, and introduce another way, introduce options, has been tremendous. So we dont demean them or negate what they have experienced. We believe that what they have experienced brings value to the situation and so we use that to be able to identify that were going to start here. Were going to start right here, what youve brought, what we have to offer, were going to start here. So we can respect the space, we can respect the individual. Mr. Hamlin, you talked a few minutes ago about using first names. Tell us why thats so important . I think its a value. Of diverse populations, unfortunately are made to feel undervalued. When i look you directly in your face, it was interesting when i got to campus the young men were so used to not being approached by anyone that when i first got on campus, i would introduce myself and say how are you doing, im brian, mr. Hamlin, they would look at the ground, because of insecurity of not trusting who was this guy, what does he want from me. I spent a lot of time, maybe even a year, building a relationship, making them feel valued. I remember your name, i know who you are, come see me and talk to me. These guys, i had to kind of break down the defenses to let them know i can be trusted, i have your best interests as my number one focus. Lets work on building that relationship. All right. Got to another another break an well continue our talk in just a minute. Theres moving. And theres moving with move free ultra. It has tripleaction support for your joints, cartilage and bones. Its all in one tiny pill. Move free ultra. Get your move on. Look, i know youre a cow and all. And you may not know what im talking about, but, uh. The yogurt made from your milk, is delicious. Mmmm, yoplait. And theres moving with thermove free ultra. It has tripleaction support for your joints, cartilage and bones. And unlike glucosamine chondroitin, its all in one tiny pill. Move free ultra. Get your move on. Welcome back. We continue our talk now about the diverse ma initiatives program at prince Georges Community college. Mr. Hamlin, when you identify, when a young man comes and says i have a dream, i want to be this, i want to be that, i want to do this, do that, how does he take that dream and turn it into a reality using your program . Well, the first part is i love dream chasers. I love someone that walks around too many of us have put our dreams on the shelves. Working with the College Environment you get them at the birth place of their dreams. I say why. Whats the motivation . Why do you want to do these things . Because i want to know how well thought out some of these concepts are and do you really know what you want. If they can effectively tell me that, we start to do two things, make sure they are plugged in to our workshops but really the one on ones, we have a personal academic adviser thats plugged in, if youre in the program its an advisers to have one on one opportunities and conversations to get into g go online, lets find out who are the people that are in that industry, where do they go to school, what is their major and we reverse engineer out of it and have them follow that game plan. Dr. Forman, thats pretty important for a population of students who students used to being dismissed and feeling that there is no rung on the ladder of their lives . It is very important. It is its very significant for them to feel that they are being heard and when they are heard, that theres an action that will take place. So often theyre dismissed or they may be talked out of something and we have made a conscious effort to be sure to listen. Thats a very important trait when were working with students across the board. We have to listen. Anthony, what did you want to be . Initially i actually wanted to work in sports. I wed office. Thats something i wanted to do. Take my passion for sports and natural gift of numbers and combine them. I thought being a sports executive would kind of be my direction. Now ive had the opportunity to use my gift of numbers to work and hopefully that will help me gain professional experience at this time. When you got to prince georges, you went to prince georges and also went to the university of maryland. Yes. Youre a young man in the video, he was glad he went to Community College first. Was that your experience . Did it prepare you for the university of maryland . Absolutely. It did. Maryland is a big school. You can kind of get lost in the numbers and undergraduates, probably about 30,000 undergraduates at the university of maryland. Community college gave me the confidence to allow me to understand who i am as a person and what my goals were. Once i got to the university of maryland it was i felt myself coming back and Touching Base with the program. Going there first gave me the initial steps to get me to the next level. Mr. Hamlin, were seeing record numbers of high school students, minority students, going to college which is laudable, but when they get to college, keeping them in school and then finishing the graduation is where many go off the rails. Talk about that issue and what do the numbers look like for you . Our numbers are great. And the funny thing its not rocket science. I think all College Students come in, despite their ethnicity, the independent nature of college, the lack of accountability like you dont have your parents wagging their finger or knocking on your door about your homework. I suffered maybe a semester or two where i floated around campus went to South CarolinaState University and graduated in 94 to 98, but again, i think with dmsi and prince georges because it is a junior college, twoyear institution, dmsi we will wrap ourselves around them, that on campus. Were going to guide them. Again, relationship building. Trust us. We know where youre trying to go, let us help you get there. But in terms of dmsi numbers were talking about record increases in terms of our retention rates, graduation rates, and its only going to get better as the program scales up and we begin to impact more lives and more funds come into the program, our goal is to touch, you know, weve touched over 415 men since 2009. And i know the College President is looking to double those numbers. Yes. So honestly my thing is before we start to expand, we just want to master what were doing and then move on to being able to transform and touch more lives. We will be right back after this. Stay with us. The sunll come out for people with Heart Failure, tomorrow is not a given. But entresto is a medicine that helps make more tomorrows possible. Tomorrow, tomorrow. I love ya, tomorrow in the largest Heart Failure study ever. Entresto helped more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading Heart Failure medicine. Women who are pregnant must not take entresto. It can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. If youve had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, dont take entresto. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure. Kidney problems, orrow, tomorrow i love ya, tomorrow. Ask your heart doctor about entresto. And help make tomorrow possible. Youre only a day away welcome back. Dr. Forman, this is a twoyear program, correct . Yes, it is. Yes, it is. The students come in that first year. They what its going to take to meet those goals, and then that second year we delve into more about their career, readiness, internships. They create a portfolio. Yes. And mr. Hamlin, you said that academics is only part of this program. Right. Thats only part of what youre teaching. Yes. The big part is development. Your approach to personal growth as a man, a man of color, your leadership ability, your ability to communicate, your personal confidence, is really hand in hand with academic achievement. Even with academic achievement its a successful mindset youre trying to develop. When you leave school those Transferable Skills and habits can be taken to a professional environment, to anywhere. Your own business. Because now you have a mindset of success. If you have no character behind that, youre really not going to be able to ignite it to make it manifest anything iou way your character grew in this mentoring program. Personally i struggled with selfconfidence. That was one of the things when i actually met him, he noticed that. Why dont you stand tall and speak. I was timid. Speak up. Speak up. I tried to play the background and i mentioned that to him. He said you have to acknowledge and embrace who you are and what you want to do and part of that was lack of passion formica rear and what i wanted to do. I didnt know where i wanted to go. I was kind of lost. It allowed me to play the background and stay in my comfort zone. As you see im able to speak and talk about my growth and led me to personal growth and development . Dr. Forman, this program youve done at the Community College level obviously has helped many students who are performing better when they go on beyond Community College. But for students who, you know, maybe first time, you kn College Students and their families and they go to big institutions, can they succeed if they dont have someone wrapping their arms around them . In my opinion, success is tied to having someone you can connect with. Its important for you to be able to have that person that is listening, thats not judging you, that respects what it is that youre saying, what it is that you would like to do, and then to help you navigate. We all need someone to help us to navigate. We need someone to wrap their arms around us, to embrace us, and so these Wraparound Services that were able to provide to the men at prince Georges Community college, its working. Do you do the same thing for girls . We do. Theres a program at the college thats started about a year after called women of wisdom and its an awesome team of professional women that work at the institution that some of the concepts were built on some of the principles of Diverse Male Student Initiative but it has its own uniqueness and doing well. Anthony, whats your advice to a young man who is like you who is a 3. 5 grade point average student, who is not interested in school . My advice would be to be find his passion first and connect with somebody and get help and what do you do in your spare time and what do you consider a hobby, what is something you would do, something that you would be so excited about. Find a way to connect that to school and the programs that help you develop that. Were glad you found that program. Congratulations to you. I was serious about the loan. Dr. Forman, mr. Hamlin, and anthony, thank you all so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thats viewpoint. Im pat lawson muse. Have a great sunday. Stay with us. At giant, shoppers low prices by the thousands, plus a thousand more that just dropped. All these low prices what are you trying to do, no. Just trying to save you a whole lot of bread. [ laughter ] thousands of blue tags, thousands of low prices. My giant. Right now on news 4 todtod a man stabbed and feds demand action. Our community is scared. Its good that we united as one. A Community Comes together as Police Reveal a motive for the deadly Shopping Center shootings. Going to take at least six. Sound the horn. Still in it. Fans getting ready for game six as the caps keep their stanley cup dreams alive. Theyre still going, youre still growing. Looks good. Were