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Barnard Students Mentor Times Square Youth Participants on Barnard Campus, July 21
 On Wednesday, July 21, members of the Barnard Organization of Soul Sisters (BOSS), along with Iota Phi Theta Fraternity members, will spend the day showing less advantaged students aged 17-21 the ins and outs of college life. They will provide campus tours of Barnard and City College, as well as information on the college admissions process, and they will also discuss educational options and goals.
The day is just one part of a mentoring program Barnard senior Bendita Malakia created to complement the Times Square Youth program at Midtown Community Court. The original TSY program, which Malakia also helped to develop, provides youth aged 17-21 with job training skills over a three-month period. The program was such a success that Midtown decided to add a mentoring component and asked Malakia to develop a program.
“The youth were relating really well with interns at the court who tended to be their own age,” Malakia explains.
So she forged a partnership with TSY, BOSS, and the Iota Phi Theta fraternity, with the Barnard students mentoring female participants and Iota Phi Theta brothers working with the males. Open to any student aged 17-21 who is not currently in school, the three-month program provides monthly outings like the one scheduled at Barnard on July 21, in addition to one-on-one mentoring. Based on more personal relationships, the mentoring can take the shape of anything from school tutoring to personal advice. Weekly GED tutoring is also provided.
The program currently has twelve participants, but will ultimately serve 100 students this year. Malakia says the importance of the program sometimes lies in just being there.
“It provides the students with a role model, someone going in the right direction to give them inspiration,” she says.
To learn more about Malakia’s involvement in the Times Square Youth Program, click here. |
