WACC Mentorship program at Walt Whitman Middle School Kickoff!

The first day of WACC's Saturday School mentorship program at Walt Whitman middle school in Fairfax County was a smashing success! "The kids loved it, and were engaged the whole time." says WACC president Vivian Boakye.

Program participants started the program with a discussion about identity. "We talked about who's a "real African" and a regular "African" and there was a lot of identity issues to unpack," said Clarissa Bannor. "As someone who writes about identity on a regular on my blog, ThisAfropolitanLife.com I was happy to see the kids have a conversation about the topic to unpack any misconceptions they may have about who they are.

The program on April 3rd was hosted and facilitated by Adoma Adae of DarkIsLovely.org. An organization who's mission is to instill confidence, self-esteem and help youth see that who they are and what they look like are beautiful. Ms. Adae said, "I wanted to start the discussion around identity because having a good sense of who you are and where you come from is key to confidence, and it isn't something our parents typically talk about."

The kickoff program was attended by about 20 students and 6 adult mentor volunteers. The kids created vision boards about their lives and some of the goals they have for their futures.