philly achievement academy initiatives

esprit de corps

This is the basis of everything we do with our young men. From mentor to mentee, brotherhood is the underlying factor in all of our sessions focusing on life and professional skills. It is what we stand behind and how we operate - as brothers. 

Partnership with The National Black Police Association, Greater Philadelphia Chapter

Tension between minority community members and police officers across the nation has been on the rise. In an effort to rebuild those relationships and reestablish trust between our youth and authority figures, the Achievement Academy has established a partnership with the National Black Police Association, Greater Philadelphia Chapter. At least once a year, they will host a session and conduct activities to open lines of communication and trust through open forum discussions, demonstrations, and lectures on how to safely navigate potentially volatile situations. This is tailored to each age group: Youth Leaders, Middle Managers, Kappa Leaguers, and to our Parent group as well.

Public Service

Throughout the year, we host several different community service activities in an effort to enhance our neighborhood. The Philadelphia Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, inc. serves the area within a one mile radius of our Achievement Center. Public services activities and projects include community/church clean ups, Project Feed The 1000, mural paintings, gardening, park cleanings, and more. As a requirement to remain in the program, each student must complete a minimum of nine community services hours throughout the year. 

Making Responsible Decisions

Each year we host at least one session where we teach our young men the importance of goal setting. These sessions are usually hosted by one of the Philadelphia Alumni Chapter brothers. Young men are taught to track progress and to hold themselves accountable for their actions. 

Personal Care

We all know as boys transition into young men, their bodies go through puberty. In addition, teenagers tend to be active in sports and other activities. Thus, we host at least one session each year to talk about personal hygiene, routines, and other best practices. These sessions are tailored to each age group - Youth Leaders, Middle Managers, and Kappa Leaguers.

Neat Appearance

Similar to personal hygiene, we find it important to inform our young men on how to groom them selves appropriately. These sessions include topics and activities like ironing, shoe shining, shirt and pants measurement, grooming facial hair, how to tie a tie/bowtie, and much more. These sessions are targeted to our two older groups - Middle Managers and Kappa Leaguers. 

Mental Health

Recently, mental health has been a concern throughout the nation. We incorporate as least one session for an open discussion on mental health and how to deal with the inherent challenges. Facilitators for these sessions rotate between Brothers of the Chapter and Guest Speakers.

Drug Abuse

As our young men matriculate through life, we understand that they may or may not be exposed to drugs or other substances. As their mentors, we hold at least one session to discuss the potential ramifications of thier actions - good and bad. 

Sessions

We faciliatie several different sessions around the topic of finance and money management. Some of the topics include saving, bank accounts, credit cards, check books, preparing for college, stocks and bonds, investing, financial planning, and decision making.

Speakers

Quite often, we invite other community entrepreneurs to come in and showcase their businesses. Our guests usually share the story of their journey to become successful entrepreneurs. 

Effective Oral Communication

To often do we find young men who are not comfortable speaking in front a group or in a public setting. To combat this issue, at the beginning of each session, we have everyone introduce themselves, one-by one, to the entire Achievement Academy group. This is tailored to each age group: Youth Leaders, Middle Managers, and Kappa Leaguers.

Great Debates

Each year we host at least one session specifically for debate competitions. Each young man is given a topic and must either defend or go against their opponent. The topics of these debates can be random or assigned prior to the session. This develops both public speaking skills and critical thinking for our young men. 

Partnership with Olney Girls High School Mentoring Program

Ondria Glaze, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., runs her own mentoring program in conjunction with Olney Girls High School. Each year we partner with their mentoring program to host several workshops. This is an opportunity for young women and young men to discuss topics pertaining to relationships and respect. These sessions are targeted to our Kappa League group, ages 15-18.

Sex Education

We all know as boys transition into young men, their bodies go through puberty initiated by hormonal signals from the brain. Each year we host at least one sex education workshop to cover topics including relationships, decision making, condom negotiation, gender identity, body image, birth control, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). These sessions are tailored for our two older groups, Middle Managers and Kappa Leaguers.