Portland Alumnae Chapter has addressed Educational Development through past and current projects/programs including:

• Reading literacy

• Pursuit of academic excellence through scholarships

• Career awareness and development

• Computer literacy

• Careers in mathematics and science-high technology

• Test-taking skills for employment and education

• Recognizing negative educational environments that thwart the development of young

  girls

   

Portland Alumnae Chapter also continues to participate in current national educational initiatives, including Dr. Betty Shabazz Delta Academy, Growing and Empowering Myself Successfully (GEMS), and Empowering Males to Build Opportunities for Developing Independence (EMBODI).

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Delta Academy

The Dr. Betty Shabazz Delta Academy was established under the leadership of the 21st National President, Marcia L. Fudge, as a signature program of the 1996-98 biennium. Delta chapters have embraced Soror Fudge‘s vision and answered the call to enhance the future of our African American girls. The program reflects current issues and trends of middle school-aged young women. The Academy gives Delta women of vision the opportunity to turn their resources and energies to developing new purpose, new skills and new leaders from the ranks of 11 to 14 year old girls.

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Delta GEMS

Created as the Dr. Jeanne L. Noble Delta GEMS Initiative, GEMS is an acronym for Growing and Empowering Myself Successfully. Since its inception in 2004, the Delta GEMS youth initiative has served as a catalyst for young African-American women between the ages of 14 and 18 to enhance their abilities in order to achieve academic excellence. This national curriculum focuses on programs and activities that sharpen and enhance the skills of young African American women by:

• Promoting high levels of academic success,

• Assisting young women in proper goal setting,

• Developing compassionate, caring, community-minded young women,

• Emphasizing decision-making and planning for the high school years & beyond, and

• Becoming a Responsible Teen (BART) - implemented into the curriculum in 2010/ 2011 to educate young girls aged 11-18 in the Delta Academy and GEMS program about HIV/AIDS awareness. 

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EMBODI

Launched in 2010 as a mentoring program for young black males aged 13-17, EMBODI is symbolic of empowering young African American males to immerse themselves in African and African American culture and to see themselves as a person of great worth. The programming focuses on:

• Education,

• Culture,

• Family and community,

• Personal, social, and emotional factors,

• Resilience and responsibility,

• Leadership and mentorship,

• Preventative health care and mental health counseling, 

• Finances,

• Safety and protection,

• Conflict resolution and restorative justice,

• Scholarship, and

• Service learning

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