What a week we’ve had! Saturday Neil had the privilege of presenting 2 workshops to students, administrators and youth advocates from the Philadelphia region at the Black Male Development Symposium coordinated by Dr. Doreen Loury. The event held over 1200 participants and was hosted by Arcadia University (gorgeous campus!). Neil’s message was simple—“Expect Success”—and he engaged the students around their goals, passions and dreams. His message was steadfast in how we must hold the bar high, focus on skill building, work ethic and achievement for young black boys.

Monday, 5-17-10, was without question the highlight of our year here at VM. We held our end of the year banquet celebration for our after school pilot program, the inVision project, at Sligo Middle School in Silver Spring, MD. It was a festive night to celebrate the hard work and dedication the student participants demonstrated throughout the school year as they studied the Visible Men success principles in creative ways (on the football field, fieldtrips, role playing).

The students were accompanied to the banquet by their family members and each boy received a “Success Kit” with items such as shirts, ties, Axe body spray, and the book “Gifted Hands” by Dr. Ben Carson. Now the head of neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins U. Hospital, Dr. Carson was once told he was dumb and impaired but went on against all odds to be a highly Visible Man!

The Sligo Middle School Students were incredibly gracious and all expressed an interest in continuing the program again next year. Please take a moment to listen to the positive remarks made by Sligo MS Principal Jeff Rhodes in the video below.

We’d like to thank the VM community for all of your support and donations this year. Our pilot program at Sligo was a success in large part due to your investment and belief in Visible Men. We are honored and inspired to have you in our network and look forward to some exciting VM initiatives on the horizon!

The one message we know is resonating with the young black boys we are working with was echoed by an 8th grade student who attended the VM seminar in Philadelphia and the 7th grade student from Sligo—“Always Dream.” We couldn’t agree more.

Please take a moment to check out the new photos and video uploads in our VM success network.