Students at Brown Middle School spent time this week with Susan L. Taylor, founder and CEO of the National CARES Mentoring Movement and former editor-in-chief of Essence magazine. Taylor’s organization, National CARES Mentoring Movement, announced the launch of a pilot program for 40 of the school’s sixth grade students, all of whom have been selected to participate in the mentoring program. “Mentoring is all about caring,” said Taylor. “It’s caring enough to commit just one hour a week to advise and help guide a vulnerable young person. None of the forces claiming our children’s lives are more powerful than our commitment and love. We are the solution.”
The National CARES Mentoring Movement is a community-engagement effort committed to closing the gap between the relatively few mentors and the many children in need of mentoring support. Working through a growing national network of nearly 60 CARES Mentor-Recruitment Affiliates, CARES has recruited thousands of mentors who are serving more than 125,000 children. The National CARES Mentoring Movement joined forces with the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) and the presidents of six Historically Black Colleges and Universities to pilot an innovative, multi-layered mentoring initiative called The Rising. The initiative elevates literacy, STEM compentancies, character building and self-efficacy and instills a passion for learning among challenged readers in primarily under-resourced, predominantly Black schools that neighbor HBCU campuses. 
The Rising’s distinctive components include an engaging curriculum that uses cultural and intellectual works of African-Americans to teach core STEM disciplines and increase literacy. Students at Brown Middle will also be provided with interactive instruction that allows them to learn through doing by using their STEM skills. Additionally, the program will connect the CARES students at Brown Middle School to college students who are mentors and role models. Click here for more information about The National CARES Mentoring Movement or to learn how you can serve as a mentor.
Earlier this school year, Fickett Elementary held its annual United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) mentoring program kick-off to celebrate a continuing partnership between the APS school and its internationally known partner. This program was originally developed to provide mentors and guidance for girls, but this year the program was extended to also include male students at Fickett Elementary.
For years, UPS has served as a Partner in Education at Fickett Elementary School.
The Fickett program is sponsored by the UPS African-American Business Resource Group Community Connections Mentoring Program. The mission of the program is to enhance the lives of young girls and boys by providing personal encouragement through academic and social involvement from UPS employees. 
“The program is a benefit to our school community,” said Ms. Mary King, school counselor at Fickett Elementary. “It helps build character and gives students more exposure outside of the school environment.”
UPS is committed to motivating student participants to become better students through personal development. The mentors are hopeful that, through interaction with adults and fellow students, the girls and boys will carry the lessons learned into their personal and professional lives as adults.
It may not have been the Million Man March, but the feeling and mood of the experience was the same — “Donuts for Dads” at L.O. Kimberly Elementary! Donuts for Dads is an annual tradition held by the Kimberly male staff, to gather the male figures and their children together in a time of reflection and instruction.
The event offers the students and guardians the time to experience quality instruction and strategies taught at the school. The event also highlights tips for success in each academic area and grade. Each year the participation increases — so much, in fact, that organizers had moved the event into the gymnasium where they still had guests eager to get in.
This year’s Donuts for Dads’ focus was mathematics, particularly multiplication for the upper grades. The facilitators provided strategies to assist the students in multiplying all numbers. There were various fourth- and fifth-grade students assisting guardians with the multiplication examples. Kimberly Stingers are “Buzzing with Success!”