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S.T.R.O.N.G.

Striving to Reunite Our Next Generation

Founder/Student Coordinator:  Sayed Sahadatalli, NJ LEEP College Bound Student
Director:  Onaje Crawford

Cosponsored by:

Mission:  STRONG is a community of young urban men in grades six through twelve, alongside adult professional men, who are committed to a personal vision of interior strength based upon character and the values of responsibility, community, self-sacrifice and compassion.  The STRONG community holds up high educational attainment as a constant goal and objective.  Through the mentoring of adult to youth, and from older youth to younger youth, the men of STRONG seek to challenge each other to ever greater levels of personal growth.

Implementation Time Line:

• June to July 2008:  NJ LEEP students and staff lead workshops on positive male development for boys in grades 6-8 at partner schools.

• July to August 2008:  NJ LEEP College Bound freshman and sophomore young men read The Pact and meet with Program Director to discuss personal pacts for success.

• September 2008 to May 2009:  Each NJ LEEP sophomore young man receives a male attorney mentor.  The mentor will remain with each student until the student goes to college.  The following are the scheduled mentor events for 2008-09:

1. Four constitutional law debates on Saturdays at Seton Hall Law School.  Law students will also help with debate preparation and judging.

2. 3-4 social/cultural outings planned and organized by NJ LEEP.

3. Informal male outings with Seton Hall Law BLSA men and attorney mentors, if interested, including sporting events, hanging out in student lounge and playing pool, basketball pick-up games, etc.

• 2008-09:  STRONG community seeks funding to hire Program Coordinator to establish STRONG chapters with boys in grades 6-8 in 5-7 partner schools.

Objectives:

• To obtain a 70% four-year male retention rate for NJ LEEP’s College Bound Program.  This number is an extremely high male retention benchmark for rigorous academic programming.

• To obtain a level of a 45% 8th grade male applicant pool for NJ LEEP’s College Bound Program (current level ca. 30%).

• To reach several hundred young men per year in the crucial developmental years of grades 6-8, and to encourage them to follow positive male developmental patterns.

For more information about S.T.R.O.N.G contact :

Onaje Crawford, After School Program Coordinator, NJLEEP

Seton Hall University School of Law

onajecrawford@njleep.org

973)242-0951 [phone], (973)242-0952 [fax]

The S.T.R.O.N.G. Program is Cosponsored by:

SOS SECURITY, INC.

One Security Plaza

1915 Route 46 East ~ Parsippany, NJ 07054

973-402-6600 [phone]~ 973-270-2372~ [fax] ~ www.sossecurity.com

1-800-SECURE-0