Mentoring Program for Teenage Boys

Our very own Coach Edith Randolph is busy mentoring students in and out of school. She is the Co-Chair of one of three Educational Development Programs run by the Tampa Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.. Her program is the EMBODI Program, which stands for Empowering Males to Build Opportunities for Developing Independence. This program is designed to promote the on-going development of young African-American and Hispanic males ages 13-17.

The goal of this mentoring program is to provide guidance for teen boys in leadership, talent development, and service learning. The process also aims to foster career aspirations in these young men. Each boy has a mentor relationship with a Delta Sigma Theta Sorority sister, who communicates directly with the child and his parents on a weekly basis. In addition, each sorority sister has a personal contact at the child’s school to track grades and behavior.

The program was piloted in the 2011/2012 school year at one public middle school in Tampa. As consistent with national data on mentorship programs, local data revealed great improvement with this mentoring relationship. Twenty teens met once a month for two hours, along with volunteers from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. This year the program is open to boys from all public schools in Hillsborough. We are proud to announce that three students from TDS have submitted applications to join the program this year. We can’t wait to learn about the success of our future TDS leaders!