Community & school district come together to tie ties
Asbury Park Middle School boys get lesson on dressing for success
Asbury Park Middle School boys got a lesson on how to tie a tie from members of the Phi Upsilon Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Tuesday.
The ‘Dress For Success All Boys Assembly’ was a multigenerational learning opportunity, said district spokesperson Chanta Jackson.
“The program is intended to provide students with access to positive African-American men that are professionals who have achieved in life despite very similar life situations that our students are encountering presently,” Principal Rashawn M. Adams said.
Adams noted Omega Psi Phi Fraternity members include Dr. Carter G. Woodson, Dr. Charles Drew, Dr. Ernest E. Just, and the late NASA Astronaut Ronald McNair.
Also in attendance were members of the Varsity Football team, under the direction of Head Coach Tim Fosque.
The event also paid homage to the fraternity’s 104th anniversary. Touted as the first international fraternal organization founded on the campus of a historically black college, Omega Psi Phi was founded Nov. 17, 1911 on the Howard University campus in Washington, D.C.
The Phi Upsilon chapter was chartered Sept. 6, 1952 in Neptune. The organization’s cardinal principles are: Manhood, Scholarship, Perseverance and Uplift.
“The Phi Upsilon Chapter is committed to mentoring boys as a part of a national mandate of the Fraternity and to continue its legacy of serving the Monmouth County community,” Phi Upsilon Chapter President Charles Ross said.
The assembly grew from the school district and fraternity’s weekly “Bridge Builders Mentoring Program,” Jackson said. The program exposes 20 boys to opportunities they may not have otherwise realized.
Other assembly partners include: the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives [NOBLE], the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP], Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Monmouth County, PNC Bank, Monmouth Works and the Asbury Park Police Department.
[Photos courtesy of Chanta L. Jackson]
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