by April | Education
The Blue Heart Foundation and CSU San Marcos have agreed that a supportive partnership and a guaranteed admission would provide a valuable pathway for students from an outstanding program with a proven track record to join our campus community. With this MOU agreement we will demonstrate our commitment to academic excellence and student success, while creating a diverse educational community and learning environment. CSUSM will provide an open and welcoming culture which will enhance and support the successful completion of an academic degree.
We were treated to a campus tour with our new partner CSU San Marcos. We also officially signing our Memorandum of Understanding agreement that will allow us to begin generating a pipeline of our students to attend this forward thinking institute of higher learning. As we toured the campus many parents were in awe that we were chosen as a preferred partner… One Blue Heart Parent – Tammy Blevins stated this is such a wonderful opportunity for our young men.”
Our day included a Meet, Greet and Celebration of our Partnership with Carol McAllister, Karen Francisco-Butler and Rosa Barr-Hailstork. Followed by an Admissions Information Presentation – Rivian Anderson/Araceli Bazan and Financial Aid Presentation – Sergio Solis. ” It’s one thing to meet and talk about all of the programming, mentoring and services the foundation provides, but it’s another to see how utterly prepared, smart and tenacious they are in person.” Director of Admissions Carol McAllister would say and later continued ” I hope they enjoyed the day and know that we are here for them. We look forward to a long wonderful relationship.
We then had a Campus Tour led by PRIDE Ambassadors Araceli Bazan & Rivian Anderson followed by a visit to SBSB Computer Labs where our seniors officially applied to CSU San Marcos with the assistance of Dr. Geoffrey Gilmore. Each senior was fully prepared, completing their application on the spot, which thoroughly impressed the entire admissions staff.
The tour closed with a visit to the Campus Dorms and lunch in the Commons, I must say this was one of the most amazing campus tours yet and we are excited for what the future holds.
Our agreement can be viewed by clicking HERE
Photos Courtesy of Heartfelt Imagez (www.heartfeltimagez.com) and Jess Kunert photography (jesskunertphotography.com)
by April | Career Development, Education, Mentoring
Saturday Oct. 15th – The Blue Heart Foundation held it’s monthly workshop which focused on both personal and professional development. This month Taryell Simmons of Connect2Careers focused on Creating an Elevator Pitch – Elevator pitches are brief, rehearsed introductions that give potential employers a “highlight reel” of a person’s experiences and aspirations — answering the common “tell me about yourself” interview question. Participants learned to build a pitch that included their passions, goals and qualifications, then practice their pitch individually and in groups.
Our Professional Development portion focused on Real Estate, facilitated by Derrick Luckett, President of DESTINY-SIX-FINANCIAL. Mr. Luckett’s interactive workshop focused on credit health and keys to home ownership. He also provided a powerful overview on redlining and how it impacts communities and wealth redlining is the practice of denying services, either directly or through selectively raising prices, to residents of certain areas based on the racial or ethnic makeups of those areas.
While some of the most famous examples of redlining regard denying financial services such as banking or insurance, other services such as health care[ or even supermarkets, can be denied to residents (or in the case of businesses like the aforementioned supermarkets, simply moved impractically far away from such residents) to carry out redlining. The term “redlining” was coined in the late 1960s by John McKnight, a sociologist and community activist. It refers to the practice of marking a red line on a map to delineate the area where banks would not invest; later the term was applied to discrimination against a particular group of people (usually by race or sex) irrespective of geography.
During the heyday of redlining, the areas most frequently discriminated against were black inner city neighborhoods. For example, in Atlanta in the 1980s, a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of articles by investigative-reporter Bill Dedman showed that banks would often lend to lower-income whites but not to middle- or upper-income blacks. The use of blacklists is a related mechanism also used by redliners to keep track of groups, areas, and people that the discriminating party feels should be denied business or aid or other transactions. In the academic literature, redlining falls under the broader category of credit rationing.
Finally, we were treated as Jay King of Club Nouveau stopped through and present on entrepreneurship… Mr. King started his career over 30 years ago (King rewrote music business history when he manufactured, distributed, marketed & promoted the Multi-Million selling #1 R&B and Top Ten Pop hit ‘Rumors’ by the Timex Social Club on his Indi label Jay Records in 1986). He knows what kind of talent, infrastructure and support that is needed to create a successful brand as well as business.
Building real synergy and networking opportunities between local communities and businesses are critical to the success of ones business, sharing his expertise as a marketer, visionary and businessman who was one of the music industry’s first black executives. We were honored that he would stop by to mentor our young men and guests
by April | Community, Education
This Saturday we went on a day trip to Birch Aquarium and snorkeling afterwards. Outdoor Outreach provides comprehensive, year-round outdoor programming for youth in San Diego. By introducing participants to the outdoors through exciting and joy-filled activities, OO inspires underserved youth to see possibility and opportunity in their lives, and realize various positive attitude and behavioral changes that help them become successful adults.
Once we arrived to Birch Aquarium we immediately got to view the Hall of Fishes. Which has everything you might want to see – starfish, jelly fish, octopus, fish galore!, crabs, seahorses, turtles, etc., etc. The highlight is for sure the Kelp Forest, with 70,000 gallons in the tank and so many fish and sharks of all shapes and sizes, that you can sit on the stairs and be mesmerized!
Outside the back there was a petting tidal pool overlooking the ocean, the people at the touch pool were friendly and the guys saw the shallow pools containing fish, lobsters, sea urchins, sea anemone, sea cucumbers, sea stars and snails!
The sea urchins, sea stars, sea cucumbers and sea anemone were safe to touch! AJ said “It was really cool how the anemone and urchins grabbed onto my fingers!”
After a quick lunch at Mission Point park the guys put on gear and went snorkeling. In the shallow waters close to the Mission Bay shore, we saw a few Garibaldi, California’s bright orange state fish. Picked up a Black sea hare, also called sea slugs,which can grow up to two and a half feet long and will almost certainly adorn the sea floor wherever you’re snorkeling.
The snorkeling entire day was remarkable filled with fun and discovery. It’s just amazing to see the smiles on these young men’s faces as the are free to be themselves away from the constructs of the intercity. But more importantly they are not chained to technology, experiencing all the world has to offer.
by April | Education, Team Building
Saturday morning after a long week of activism and service the leadership of Blue Heart had the opportunity to visit the Museum of Man for a private tour of the exhibit “Race: Are We So Different?”
THE EXHIBIT asks the questions:
Is race the color of your skin? Is it the texture of your hair? The shape of your eyes? Is it in your genes?
Is race even real?
Race: Are We So Different? explains in clear, helpful language the origins of race and racism, and helps us understand how to deal with them in productive, enlightening ways.
Most of what we think about race is based on myth, folklore, or assumptions unsupported by genetics or biology. No one is free of misunderstandings about race, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Visit the museum of man for an eye-opening look at human nature and biology. You’ll leave transformed.
The Museum of Man is a place where dialogue, learning, and exchange forge understanding and personal connections. That’s why — after an initial temporary exhibition — “Race” was permanently installed this award-winning exhibit created by the American Anthropological Society and the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Race is a wonderful platform to engage schools and teachers, the general public, and other groups, in feeling, thinking, acting, and reflecting on race and identity, and to raise awareness, build community, and positively impact the ways in which we treat each other.
Afterwards we sat down to discuss the issues of race and found that so many eyes were opened to both historical and current facts that help piece together and shape today’s world. Jeremiah Daughtry pointed out that “It wasn’t until the Bacon Rebellion that people started seeing each other as races… Rich white people turned everyone against each other.”
by April | Education, Mentoring
CSUMentor is a website designed to help students and their families learn about the California State University (CSU) system. The CSU is comprised of 23 excellent campuses.
FRESHMAN ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS OVERVIEW
FRESHMAN ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS
It is easy to understand the CSU admission requirements for California residents. Admission offices at the 23 campuses use three factors to determine eligibility.
Most applicants who are admitted meet the standards in each of the following areas:
Many CSU campuses have higher standards for particular majors or for students who live outside the local admission area. Because of the number of students who apply, several campuses have higher standards (supplementary admission criteria) for all applicants. Many CSU campuses utilize local admission guarantee policies for students who graduate or transfer from high schools and community colleges that are historically served by a CSU campus in that region. You may review the CSU Local Admission Areas for each campus here.
FRESHMAN ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT RESIDENTS OF CALIFORNIA
The three factors used to determine the admissibility of nonresident students are the same as those for California residents.
The primary difference is that the eligibility index (a combination of grades and test scores) is somewhat higher. Nonresident students need to complete the same pattern of courses, but need a higher GPA and test score combination. See the Eligibility Index for Nonresidents for more details.
Please note that California residents receive priority whenever admission space is limited.
REGULARLY UPDATING A STUDENTS ACCOUNT ENSURES SUCCESS!
By regularly updating our student’s database we ensure that our young men stay focused on academic excellence. The ongoing attention to completing their academic goals help our students keep their eyes on the prize! Thus far, the result is an overall 100% acceptance to four year universities including CSU’s, UC’s and HBCU’s.
by April | Education, Personal Growth
May 26th, 2016 – Invited by Prince Habib our young men had the opportunity to volunteer and view Hidden Colors 4. Hidden Colors is a documentary series about the cultural history of African Americans, identity and race in America — recently released the trailer for it’s third installment, “The Rules Of Racism.” And it looks good. The project features various speakers from scholars to entertainment vets like Nas, KRS-ONE, and Paul Mooney who begs the question: “whites have always done whatever they wanted to black people, so what are the rules?”
The series’ director and producer Tariq “Elite” Nasheed — a New York Times bestselling author, public speaker, and radio host — is widely known for his social commentary. In the trailer he briefly alludes to a certain motivation in approaching the topic of racism, “there’s never been a real dialogue in America about race because every time we talk about race the conversation then turns into ‘what’s wrong with black people.’:
Traveling around the country, the film features scholars, historians, and social commentators who uncovered such amazing facts about things such as: The original image of Christ; The true story about the Moors; The original people of Asia; The great west African empires; The presence of Africans in America before Columbus; The real reason slavery was ended And much more.
What is exceptional about this series is that there are solution based conversations at the end of each film. While the series is meant to help one understand how we got here as well as understand the psychosis of systematic oppression. We are responsible for turning things around, we are living in a hostile society and environment and must stop believing that the oppressor will ever understand the dilemma of people of color. Thus, we must stand together and unite as opposed to look to curry favor from the supremacist.
Each film has had a prevailing theme with first one we really focused on history, history that is untold. We talked about the Moors in Spain and in Europe. We talked about the African presence in America before Columbus. So we focused on a lot of hidden history.
In the second “Hidden Colors” was focused on scientific racism. We talked about things like Henrietta Lacks, a woman whose stem cells were used for medical experiments. We talked about medical warfare, talked about the prison-industrial complex. And talked about racism from a political-scientific standpoint. For part three, it talked a lot about racism in America and the rules of racism, things that black people are told to do in order to fit in with dominant society and how each rule contradicts the next.
Hidden Colors 4: The Religion Of White Supremacy is the latest follow up film to the critically acclaimed hit documentary series Hidden Colors. In this installment of the Hidden Colors series, the film explores topics such as: The motivation behind European global subjugation The history of rarely discussed vast West African empires How germ warfare is used on melanated people The history of slave breeding farms in America and much more.
We were treated to a campus tour with our new partner CSU San Marcos. We also officially signing our Memorandum of Understanding agreement that will allow us to begin generating a pipeline of our students to attend this forward thinking institute of higher learning. As we toured the campus many parents were in awe that we were chosen as a preferred partner… One Blue Heart Parent – Tammy Blevins stated this is such a wonderful opportunity for our young men.”
Our day included a Meet, Greet and Celebration of our Partnership with Carol McAllister, Karen Francisco-Butler and Rosa Barr-Hailstork. Followed by an Admissions Information Presentation – Rivian Anderson/Araceli Bazan and Financial Aid Presentation – Sergio Solis. ” It’s one thing to meet and talk about all of the programming, mentoring and services the foundation provides, but it’s another to see how utterly prepared, smart and tenacious they are in person.” Director of Admissions Carol McAllister would say and later continued ” I hope they enjoyed the day and know that we are here for them. We look forward to a long wonderful relationship.
We then had a Campus Tour led by PRIDE Ambassadors Araceli Bazan & Rivian Anderson followed by a visit to SBSB Computer Labs where our seniors officially applied to CSU San Marcos with the assistance of Dr. Geoffrey Gilmore. Each senior was fully prepared, completing their application on the spot, which thoroughly impressed the entire admissions staff.
