For Immediate Release January 19, 2006

For More Information Contact: Rich Schneider, 317-278-4564 rcschnei@iupui.edu

Pilot Program Targets Youngsters Who Are Elementary School “Emotional Dropouts”

INDIANAPOLIS - Wayne Township Superintendent Terry Thompson, Scott Deetz, Principal of North Wayne Elementary School, and Terrence Littlefield, Director of IUPUI Student African-American Brotherhood (SAAB), today announced the pilot mentoring program, Brother to Brother. It is the first program of its kind in Indiana.

Brother-to-Brother is IUPUI African-American male students mentoring sixteen boys at North Wayne Elementary School in 2 nd through 4 th grades. The participating students have been identified by their teachers, with parental support, as those young boys who have dropped out “emotionally” from school. These boys have little motivation to learn and often act out in the classroom. The boys will receive additional encouragement and support in the academic and social arenas through this mentoring program.

The Brother-to-Brother partnership is the first of its kind in Wayne Township district. With success this semester, Dr. Thompson hopes to expand the program into more schools.

The Brother-to-Brother program will mentor young male students and hopes to decrease the rate of “emotional” dropouts. SAAB mentors have to successfully complete a yearlong training program. SAAB mentors follow the program guide of, “Talks My Father Never Had With Me,” by Dr. Harold Davis (KJAC Publishing, 1997).

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