Growing Kings has, since 2009, provided innovative school-based mentoring and enrichment services to underserved males in urban public schools through our program series, Journey of a King. Journey of a King is a series of three group-based mentoring and enrichment programs offered to male students in the 4th-12th grades; providing students with the opportunity to participate in nine years of comprehensive programming. These programs are designed to improve students’ academic, behavioral, and societal outcomes, and are implemented in schools based upon the number of students who receive free and/or reduced lunch. Each program within the Journey of a King series operates with its own distinct curriculum that is relevant in content and delivery methodology.
The Journey of a King program series includes:
Engages 4th and 5th grade students through a literacy and mathematics curriculum designed to improve critical thinking and analytical skills, while building a foundation for personal and cognitive development. This program provides each student with a subscription to National Geographic Kids and Sports Illustrated KIDS magazines to enhance their reading literacy levels. Students also join and compete as members of their class’ NBA Math Hoops® team in order to strengthen their math and arithmetic skills.
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Engages 6th-8th grade students through a five unit, sixteen module curriculum focused on character development, violence prevention, and self-efficacy. Program sessions cover many vital life topics that include domestic violence, etiquette, civics, and mental health; and utilize hands-on activities designed to enhance learning experiences, and establish techniques for better critical thinking and decision making.
Engages 9th-12th grade students by exploring cultural identity, manhood, and college & career readiness. The curriculum uses trauma-informed healing strategies that help students to understand the depths of their background and to unpack elements of toxic masculinity. Students are also afforded opportunities to receive a certification in a technological or manufacturing field as they approach employable age.
Collectively, the Journey of a King programs operate to accomplish the following goals:
- Expose participants to life outside of their neighborhoods through meaningful dialogue, activities, and events;
- Prevent participants from resorting to acts of violence, coercion, and/or abuse;
- Intervene in the academic and social lives of participants demonstrating destructive behavior and help them build skills for success;
- Rehabilitate those who have already begun to exhibit the effects of abuse and violence within their own interpersonal relationships; and
- Build skills around knowledge, ability, and self-efficacy.
To learn more about our theory of change, download our logic model.