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Tulsa Public Schools Launches Mentoring Program for Young Men of Color

Tulsa Public Schools

Tulsa Public Schools is offering a new mentoring program for African American and Latinx boys ages 12 and up.

It’s called C.H.A.M.P.S., which stands for Culturally Helping and Making Positive Success.

"CHAMPS is designed with an understanding that our young men come from different cultural, educational, religious, economic and professional backgrounds, and a primary goal is to make sure that every participant receives high-quality mentoring," said Superintendent Deborah Gist.

TPS Student Success Coordinator Jamaal Dyer said C.H.A.M.P.S. isn’t just about helping young men do well in school. It’s also about making sure they have opportunities to develop leadership skills and have meaningful experiences outside of school.

"C.H.A.M.P.S. has a laser-like focus with a curriculum that helps to improve the lives of our young men academically, culturally, emotionally so they can make and achieve significant and positive success in life," Dyer said.

C.H.A.M.P.S. gives young men of color regular, positive interactions and focuses on teaching them self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making.

It's modeled after a program of the same name started in Chicago.

"And they have a 93% attendance rate, 100% of their young men have been accepted to college and 84% of them are first-year college students, and 89% of the men who attend C.H.A.M.P.S. come from low-income families," Dyer said about Chicago's program.

The program will be offered this semester at Central, McLain, Memorial Junior High, Monroe and Rogers. Dyer's goal is to have the program at every secondary school site.

In mid-January, C.H.A.M.P.S. founder Vondale Singleton brought a team to Tulsa to train program leaders of the pilot schools.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.