My Brothers' Keeper
MBK Hosts A Day of #BlackAndBrownBoyJoy !!!
On Saturday, April 21st, My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) will be hosting a day of #BlackandBrownBoyJoy here at Van Buren HS. Our goal is to bring together our MBK boys and Men of Color in a safe space for a day of mentoring, teambuilding, storytelling and some friendly, competitive basketball! We are hoping to recruit at least 20 men of color in the greater NYC Area to come serve as volunteer mentors/Big Brothers for the day to the MBK boys. If you know a man who would be a great Big Brother for the day, please have him register here: www.eventleaf.com/mbknyc
The My Brother's Keeper (MBK) Community at The New MVB is our premiere Peer Mentoring program for 1st and 2nd year boys of color. MBK connects incoming freshmen and sophomores with juniors and graduating seniors as their Peer Mentors. MBK hosts weekly meetings for brothers and their Peer Mentors to connect in a safe space through structured activities, guest speakers, field trips and athletics. The program's founder, Van Buren's Community School Director Mr. Richardson (b.k.a. Mr. G), built the program with support from the school's Community Based Organization, Talent Development Secondary. MBK was created to meet the unique needs of these students which included academic tutoring, social-emotional support and the need to have personal connection to a positive community of their peers.
MBK Academic Highlights
Since its inception in the fall of 2016,My Brother's Keeper at the New Van has...
- matched over 100 boys of color with Peer Mentors and offered over 50 hours of mentoring opportunities
- outperformed school wide attendance by an average of 6% per school year
- reduced chronic absenteeism among its members by approximately 7% in one school year
- improved 10+ credit accumulation for its freshmen members by an average of 15% compared to the previous year's entire freshmen cohort
- seen on average, 81% of its freshmen members stay on track for graduation based on their credit accumulation per semester
- featured by The Everyone Graduates Center (EGC), a national high school drop out prevention center housed at Johns Hopkins University's School of Education. Click here for the feature and to discover more tools and resources from the EGC.
MBK Program Highlights
On 19 April 2017, former NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña and State Board of Regents Member Lester Young visited the "My Brother's Keeper" program at Martin Van Buren High School. The visit was covered by Spectrum News NY1 and featured student testimony and positive reviews by Chancellor Farina. Click here for the story.
On 16 September 2017, 3 MBK brothers presented at the NYC Schools Comprehensive Educational Planning Conference to an audience of school principals, teachers, parents and community partners in a workshop titled, "My Brother's Keeper: A Workshop on Best Practices to Improve Outcomes for Boys of Color".
On 14 November 2017, 13 MBK brothers visited Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) as special guests of the university's Brotherhood of Scholarship and Excellence (BROSE), a collective of students, administrators, and faculty to educate, mentor and empower men of color on campus. The BROSE took MBK to visit student dorms, the student center, shared a meal inside the dining hall and a select few MBK brothers were able to sit in on a Sociology class. For many of the MBK brothers, this was their first college visit, an experience they said had them "excited" to attend college.
On 2 February 2018, 24 MBK brothers embarked on a 2 hour journey upstate for the First Annual Brotherhood Overnight Retreat hosted by the terrific staff at Camp Ramapo. During the retreat, MBK brothers engaged in a diverse assortment of leadership and team building activities including a Nature Hike through the mountains and High Ropes Courses which tested their mental and physical strengths. The bond between the brothers grew ever so stronger as they leaned upon one another for social and emotional support.
On 15 March 2018, My Brother's Keeper hosted its Second Annual Induction Ceremony. Over 75 students, parents, faculty and staff attended to honor Peer Mentors for their tireless commitment to the success of the program and recognize every MBK brother for being a contributor to our brotherhood and mentoring community. MBK Peer Mentors exchange gifts with their Mentees as a formal induction into the MBK community here in Queens and nationwide.