The Guidepost is our community News feature and member network. Staff and students of the Academy can also communicate through the Guidepost. Ask your teacher or supervisor for details.
The Inter-Generational Mentoring Model is designed to bring seniors and youth in our communities together - deliberately, intentionally, and on purpose. They have much to learn from each other. The seniors are the glue that’s missing in our attempts to mentor our youth and young adults. Instead of a steady hand and the wisdom of age at life’s many decision points, we see our kids making decisions without choices. They simply don’t understand that without choices, there’s no decision to be made. They are simply reacting, and that’s always a bad idea. How would they know?
Our beloved President Obama and Michelle were wise enough to bring the grandmother along to the White House to care for and keep the kids grounded. She’s the glue that connects the kids to reality, while mom and dad try to solve the world’s problems. All kids want and need the grounding rooted in the love, nurturing and acceptance that come from older and wiser adults. The seniors have one foot in the past and one foot in the present. The youth have one foot in the present and one foot in the future.
Together they meet the challenges of the present, and share the benefits of the past and future.
President Obama's message to Students - Stay in School. "This isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future."
GIRL TALK - Our goal is to provide an outlet for the women in the community that is Empowering, Educational, Entertaining & Fun!
GIRL TALK WORKSHOP is partnering with other organizations in Tacoma to provide workshops for girls/young women between the ages of 12-18. The workshops will provide training and information on various topics or issues such as:
CPR Training & Certification - AIDS Awareness & Education - Domestic Violence - Skin, Hair & Nail Care - Nutrition, Health & Wellness - Education - Employment Opportunities and much more!
Maxine Mimms Academies (MMA) students at the Senate rostrum with Lt. Governor Owen. They were at the Capitol to testify before the House Education Committee in support of Washington State Mentors. The lieutenant governor was among those who testified. Listen to the testimony in mp3 format
From left are Tanya Marceau; Whitney Satcher; Lt. Governor Owen; Isa Nichols, MMA executive director; Kayleanna Escalante and Keith James, community resource development administrator with DSHS.
The "School-to-Prison Pipeline" is a reflection of America's current fixation with punishing children rather than educating them. The School-to-Prison Pipeline describes the cumulative effect of various federal, state, and local policies that are leading students away from high school completion towards criminal justice involvement. Many of these policies center around the enforcement of punishment and creating a safe school environment, but the actual implementation of these policies have created greater education disparities under the guise of keeping schools safer.
A major philosophy that has contributed to the negative impact of these policies is "Zero Tolerance". Under this idea, School administrators who use Zero Tolerance - and not all of them do - use suspension or expulsion for certain behaviors after asking few to no questions about the incident.
The impact of "Zero Tolerance" in our public schools has been devastating to African American youth and their families. When a child is suspended or expelled - the whole family pays the price. Routine activities are disrupted, schedules shift, and responsibilities often need to be re-negotiated. The whole family is suspended.
Until recently, concerned parents have been preoccupied with correcting the behavior of their children; getting them the help they need to adapt and excel in the public school environment. The focus of our collective efforts has been to bind the wounds and stop the bleeding. Continued hemorrhaging has been the most visible outcome of our efforts.
Unwittingly, we as a society have declared war on our kids. At Maxine Mimms Academies, we have come to realize that the real need is to "Stop the Bullets" - and the bleeding and hemorrhaging will go away.
The steps we take to accomplish this goal must start with the Tacoma School District and lead to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) in Olympia. Daily operating procedures in our schools stem from the policies adopted and implemented by the Tacoma School District and OSPI.
Disproportionate impact of the current "Zero Tolerance" policies on African American males and children of color in general, is truly cause for alarm. It is time to declare a "State of Emergency"! A whole generation of our children are at risk of being excluded from public education and the benefits a high school diploma can provide. You cannot afford to sit this one out!
In a candid conversation, Dr. Maxine Mimms shares the story of Evergreen State College's early beginnings. She describes how the school became an institution of higher learning, and how the model has been used to educate and prepare a new generation of urban youth in our society. Its mission and its students are far from traditional and its graduates have become leaders in industry throughout the world.
Folks from near and far gathered to pay tribute to Dr. Maxine Mimms on her 80th Birthday. The lives she's touched testify to her ability to change us all - together and yet personally as well.
The photos share the faces of people from all walks of life who share a common bond with our beloved Dr. Mimms. Good food, good fun, and good company, too. What a wonderful time to be alive!
On January 19, 2008 the Washington State Chapter of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ), and Evergreen College Tacoma Alumni Chapter held a Multi-Faith Prayer Breakfast honoring Dr. Maxine B. Mimms, Tacoma educator, mentor, and leader whose career spans over four decades.
The Black History Project is the brainchild of Brave New World's CEO, Shyan Selah. A simple idea of wanting to publicly honor those that have most influenced him in life and music quickly spawned into a need to engage the community as a whole. What started out as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Sarah Vaughn, John Coltrane, Isaac Hayes, and other musicians has also turned into a personal honoring of those he's known to have affected people in such a way that changes lives forever.
Three years after its inception in 2004, MMA launches a Strategic Plan to transform public education in this country. By working with students temporarily displaced from public education, their families, community leaders, teachers and school districts, MMA develops a best practices model for public education. The plan includes action research on innovative educational approaches, establishing powerful public and private partnerships, convening collaboratoriums for community stakeholders, providing education, prevention of displacement and intervention for students and families, and building MMA’s capacity to perform and help others replicate the model.
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