Man-Up Discussion with S.M.O.O.T.H Temple

On Wednesday, October 23, 2019, the men of DonCARES of Philadelphia, Inc. and Strong Men Overcoming Obstacles Through Hard Work, Temple University Chapter hosted a Man-Up Discussion for male-identifying high school students at The U School. Man Up is a specified initiative targeting male high school students at The U School.

Members of both organizations talked to the students about each member and U School student's definitions of success. Also, the participants talked about creating a business plan and what it took to be successful in business. Nasir Harris, Vice-President of S.M.O.O.T.H Temple had students write on a piece of paper, their career and academic interests, their name, and email addresses. Harris said he would take the papers back to his fellow S.M.O.O.T.H members at Temple University and they would respond to their ideas and connect them to people within their network in Philadelphia.

Since the 2016-2017 school year, both DonCARES and S.M.O.O.T.H have held these group mentoring sessions multiple times a school year at The U School. DonCARES specializes in providing support, guidance, and mentorship to at-risk males. ​DonCARES collabs with SMOOTH Inc. Temple Chapter in providing insightful, educational, and engaging conversations for our male students. We address topics of conflict resolution, image, scholastic achievement, consent, and professionalism during our monthly conversations. The main objective of our conversations is to hold sobering conversations with our young men to prepare them to be successful students, community members, professionals, young men, sons, brothers, boyfriends, etc.