Area Middle School Girls Emerge from Mentoring Program

The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. has a new initiative: to mentor 10,000 girls nationwide to become intelligent leaders in their community. Twenty-one of those girls are being molded right here in Fairfield County.

Emerging Young Leaders is a nationwide program that focuses on character building, civic engagement, educational enrichment and leadership development. The Omicron Upsilon Omega chapter of the sorority, with members throughout Fairfield County, launched the program in January with female students from the in Stamford and the in Norwalk.

The five month program concluded at a ceremony held at the Saturday afternoon complete with a keynote speaker, slideshow, awards, and an undeniable feeling of girl power. Alpha Kappa Alpha was founded roughly 100 years ago and is the longest standing Greek-lettered organization founded by African-American college educated women. It has over 250,000 members worldwide.  

“I’m so proud of the accomplishments of these girls. They did a wonderful job and worked very hard,” Janelle McIntyre, co-chairman of the EYL program, said.

According to McIntyre, the organization reached out to the local schools and girls were referred to them. Five meetings were held each month where the girls, in grades 6-8, learned about the importance of volunteering, working to make a difference, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, bullying, and financial literacy.

Imani Morgan, an eighth grade student from Trailblazers Academy and the winter of a “What is Leadership” essay contest, defined leaderships as taking the road less traveled.

“Leadership is taking the path not many people take," she said. "Overcoming that path is not always easy, but the view is great. I’ve learned that I can conquer anything."

“We wanted to enrich the lives of 21 young ladies so they will have a brighter future," Valerie Adams Barker, president of the sorority’s local chapter, said. "We’re building better leaders at a younger age.”

At the ceremony, 14 girls from the Trailblazers Academy and eight from George Washington Carver Center were acknowledged as graduates of the program. The students in sixth and seventh grade will continue with the program next year. The chapter’s scholarship committee also passed out its annual scholarships to Daphne Nicolas from and Mical Ghebrekidam from .

The program’s keynote speaker was Alisha Smith, site director for the Gear-Up Program at Bassick High School in Bridgeport. Smith began by saying everyone has a story, which involves overcoming many obstacles and meeting inspiring women along the way. While growing up, Smith’s father left her family at an early age and her mother battled drug abuse. She acknowledged she has not always been the greatest student, but eventually realized education was the key to her success.

“You have to get your education, it’s imperative," she said. “It’s not enough just to be cute. I want to hear you say, ‘I can be whatever I want to be.’ Excuses are tools of the incompetent.”

Smith, also an accomplished singer, sang Little Girl  by Mary Mary to the students. The opening lyrics to the song were intended to speak to the middle school students sitting in the audience: “She was just 13 and I just don’t think that she’s ever seen her own beauty, and she didn’t think she’d be anything, and that little girls — she used to be me,” she sang.

Helen Giles, president of the Cultured Pearl Foundation, noted that reaching out to two schools in its first year was ambitious, but that McIntyre and fellow co-chair Natasha Hill willingly undertook the challenge.

“It’s a great reward in seeing how far they’ve come and how eager they are to participate,” McIntyre said.

The program will continue next January.