Education chief addresses discussion on African-American boys
Director of alternative education Dr. Gwendolyn Johnson-Green leads a break-out session during the “Teaching and Dreaming” forum held at the Winston-Salem Forsyth County School Building.
Photos by Tevin Stinson
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
It’s no secret that African-American males in the united states are at risk.
Boys and men of color have lower high school graduation rates, a much greater likelihood of going to prison, and higher mortality rates from homicide.
In an attempt to change that narrative, teachers, educators, clergy, students, parents, and many other stakeholders in the community came together to think of ways to close the educational gap that African-American males are currently facing.
The forum style event titled “Teaming and dreaming,” was hosted by the initiative for African-American Males (iAAM), an initiative started by Main Street Academy assistant principal Lakeisha Hill and others. Throughout the school year, iAAM hosted a number of forums designed to bring community leaders together to help close the achievement gap between African-American boys and other groups of students.
Hill said she started the initiative because she thought more should be done to help address the issues that have plagued men of color for decades.
“I just felt we needed to put our resources together,” she said. “We just thought something had to be done to change that narrative.” To jump-start the final forum of the current school year on May 23, outgoing president of the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) Rodney Ellis addressed those in attendance. Ellis said he was pleased to see IAAM started where he began his teaching career more than 20 years ago.
He mentioned what excites him most about the initiative is the fact that it brings together the entire community.
“It takes a full commitment from the entire community,” said Ellis. “To be successful, students need the support of parents, educators, elected officials, and other stakeholders in the community as well.”
“All those things must come together in order to help our African-American males to succeed.”
Ellis said he looks for-ward to partnering with IAAM in the future to work toward a goal that has been the driving force behind his entire teaching career.
“Helping improve the lives of African-American males has always been important to me,” he continued. “I look forward to working toward that goal with IAAM.”
