Youth Leadership Summit
During the month of March 2021, Psi Alpha Alpha | Fairfax Virginia – The MANUP Program executed on a 4-week virtual Youth Leadership Conference series that covered the topics of military readiness, financial strategies, pre-college initiatives, and teen mental health hygiene. The series titled “Under Construction,” exposed students to a comprehensive course series on strategies that will help them discover and build upon their current foundation.
The MANUP YLC partnered with Mount Vernon (MVHS) and John Lewis ( JLHS) high schools in Fairfax County Virginia to host and execute on offering the YLC workshop series to the combined school campuses with 80+ mentees. The YLC series was executed at MHVS from February thru March. The series starts in March and will conclude at JLHS on April 22, 2021.
The military readiness workshop was hosted by Bro. LTC Chester Kelly and Bro. Kenny Cain (Ret.) of the United States Army. They spoke in-depth about their personal military careers, inspiration, and the technical aspects on how to enlist into all branches of service out of high school.
The YLC series included a session on mental hygiene for young adults. This session was led by Bro. LTC Eric Kelly (Ret. USMC) and Bro. Cozy Bailey Jr. The workshop covered topics of bullying, recognizing signs of depression and anxiety, where to get help, who to communicate with, positive releases of stress, understanding the importance of good health, and creating/maintaining positive relationships and environments in your personal circle.
Two of the 4 session series included financial strategies and mental health awareness for teens. The financial strategies session was hosted by Bro. LTC Kevin Williams (Ret. USMC) and Bro. Michael Frazier. They discussed the importance of credit and personal credit scores, in addition, the workshop covered aspects of compound interest, interest rates, retirement strategies, depreciating vs appreciating assets, and the importance of paying your creditors on time. A good portion of the workshop was dedicated on how to establish good credit coming out of high school that included establishing banking accounts. The pre-college initiative workshop discussed SAT/ACT test-taking strategies, finding the right college, and evaluating if college is the right move for you out of high school.
Mental Health
Fairfax County Virginia | Psi Alpha Alpha – The MANUP Mentoring Program for PsiAA concluded its four-week Youth Leadership Summit at Mount Vernon High School on March 22, 2021. The theme “Under Construction,” concluded with a workshop on teen mental health awareness. The event was hosted by Bro. Eric W. Kelly and Bro. Cozy Bailey Jr. The event covered aspects of normalizing professional therapy through trained and licensed professionals as well as knowing when to ask for help. Bro. Kelly’s takeaways for the 35 student participants from MVHS included asking for help, who to seek help from, and utilizing peer networking to promote a positive atmosphere.
Bro. Bailey Jr. shared important techniques on dealing with anxiety, processing negative feelings and emotions, and creating safe places to discuss feelings with proper and trusted persons. The Youth Summit for MVHS concluded with parting and encouraging words from PsiAA Leadership. Bro. W.J. Williams and Bro. Myron McDaniels gave praise to the MVHS student’s commitment in their attendance over the past four weeks during challenging times.
The MANUP Program is a proud sponsor of the MVHS Football Team. The program has provided pre-game meals for the 50+ youth on two separate occasions. The pre-game meals allowed students to fellowship and receive proper nutrients in preparation for their football games.
