Project Ujima Parent Program Helps Students Improve Academics

For more than five years, the district’s Project Ujima parent program has been engaging African-American families in culturally-focused workshops, providing free resources to parents to help their students improve academically.

Named for the Kwanzaa principle of collective work and responsibility, Project Ujima workshops offer lessons on academics, as well as African-American culture and history.

“We have seen so many of our parents that started in Project Ujima that had never gone to a School Site Council meeting or District Advisory Council meeting or Board of Education meeting. They didn’t know how to support their child,” said Program Manager Elneda Shannon. “Some of these parents are now in leadership roles and their children are doing well. We have parents that never had any type of homework structure in their home and now recognize what their kids need to do, started a routine and their children are succeeding. And we have total proof of that with this program,” Shannon said.

To help busy families participate, the program often provides free childcare, homework stations and dinner. Spanish translation is also available.

The program’s all-important goal is to improve student academic success, but it provides parents with much more. It facilitates stronger partnerships and resource sharing between parents, students and the district to promote a productive learning environment for students. It also encourages stronger family involvement and provides programs that respect, value and validate the African-American culture.

Shannon and her key instructors, who are African-American, facilitate classes such as “Understanding the Common Core State Standards” and “Preparing African-American students for Career and College.”

The program comes from an African-American perspective, but all parents are welcome to participate.

“We have a diverse group of parents that are involved in Ujima because the information is good for all parents and for all students,” Shannon said.

Project Ujima is one of several culturally-focused programs offered by the Parent Outreach and Engagement Department. Project Ujima’s success led to the creation of other culturally-focused programs for American Indian and Southeast Asian parent communities. These programs complement other department programs such as Raising A Reader, Parent University and Computers on the Go.

“We want to make sure that parents have good information, good skills and good techniques on how they can help their children do well academically, and that’s what all of our programs are about,” Shannon said. “Our goal is the same: a successful student outcome and building parent leaders.”

Shannon hears from both parents and students that the program has been helpful.

“I know it’s successful when parents keep coming back and when parents share with other parents what has helped them,” Shannon said. “I know it’s successful when I have a parent come in and say ‘look at this report card’ or a student will come and tell me ‘I just passed my CAHSEE and I didn’t think I was going to.’

“I tell parents that you don’t have to know how to do your child’s homework, all you have to do is be there, be supportive and set the rules for your household.”

Project Ujima hosts monthly workshops and provides teachers with educational materials relating to African-American history and culture. In celebration of Black History Month, the department is hosting two events. The first is a screening of the play “The Montford Point Marines of San Diego – Legacies of Pride” on Feb. 12. The second is a lesson on genealogy called “Discovering Your Roots,” on Feb. 26 hosted by district staffer and genealogy expert Marti Lewis.

“Legacies of Pride” is a true story about the experiences of the original Montford Point Marines in the 1940s. They were the first African-Americans to serve in the United States Marine Corps. The one-act play depicting some of their experiences was written by Project Ujima parents, students and community members.

The Montford Point project was grant-funded, as are many of the special projects and field trips coordinated by the staff at Project Ujima.

Students and parents have participated in college tours to USC, UC San Diego and San Diego State, as well as field trips to Campo, home of local Buffalo Soldiers, and to Julian, which unbeknownst to many, has a rich African-American history.

A separate grant funded a parent mentor program in which parents, who have been part of the Project Ujima program and support the Parent Outreach and Engagement’s mission, work with other parents to get them involved. The mentor program was piloted successfully with Project Ujima so the department recently launched it as part of the American Indian program.

For parents or guardians that want to get involved, Shannon says the best thing to do is just come to one of the workshops or events.

“I know that African-American parents care about their children and they care about education,” Shannon said. “I am an African-American parent and grandparent so I know that parents care and that they want their children to do well.”

For more information about Project Ujima, contact Program Manager Elneda Shannon at eshannon@sandi.net or 619-291-4431.

Project Ujima families to study historic Montford Point Marines

Families in San Diego Unified's African-American parent program, Project Ujima, will be getting to know members of the historic Montford Point Marines next school year -- and sharing their stories with San Diego -- thanks to a $9,986 Community Stories Grant from Cal Humanities.

Montford Point Marine veteran Joe Jackson shows his Congressional Gold Medal, awarded to all of the Montford Point Marines in 2011.

Students and their parents/guardians will interview the first African-Americans in the Marine Corps, called Montfort Point Marines after the segregated training center used for blacks from the Corps' integration in 1941 through 1949. Other African-American Marines are also planned to be interviewed for their perspective on the contribution of blacks to the Corps.

"This grant offers our families a unique opportunity to work with the Montford Point Marines of San Diego, our project partners, and broader San Diego community to develop inspirational stories," said Elneda Shannon, Project Ujima Director. "The reality of the Montford Point Marines affirms the strength and resiliency of everyday people, lessons we hope are learned our kids and families."

San Diego is home to several original members of the Montford Point Marines and an active chapter of the Montford Point Marine Association. According to information on the official Marine Corps website, the Montford Point Marines were the first African-Americans in the Corps, following President Franklin Roosevelt's desegregation of the federal government in 1941.

During World War II, approximately 20,000 African-American recruits were trained at Montford Point Camp, according to the website. Though their training was segregated, they went through the same demanding process as all other recruits, ultimately earning the title "Marine." Though officials were initially worried that allowing African-Americans into the Marine Corps would cause racial dissension in the ranks, once they were given the chance to prove themselves, it became impossible to deny that they were just as capable and deserving of the title "Marine" as all other Marines.

Project Ujima, based at San Diego Unified's Ballard Parent Center, is a dynamic program devoted entirely to engaging African-American families in reaching that all-important goal: student academic success.

The grant comes from the Cal Humanities Community Stories Program. According to Cal Humanities, Grants are awarded for projects that give expression to the extraordinary variety of histories and experiences of California’s places and people to ensure that the stories can be shared widely. These narratives help Californians to find cultural commonalities, appreciate differences and learn something new about how to live well together.

“With our state’s incredible diversity, fostering communication and connecting people to a range of ideas is vital for our general welfare,” Said Ralph Lewin, president and CEO of Cal Humanities. “Our grant award enables awardees to pursue the important work of engaging new audiences in conversations around stories of significance to Californians.”

Since 2003, Cal Humanities has supported approximately 400 story projects and granted nearly $3 million to enable communities to voice, record, and share histories- many previously untold or little known. Through video, photography, murals, zines, documentary theater, audio project, and more, these collected stories have been shared with broad audiences, both live and virtual. Cal Humanities is an independent non-profit state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information on Cal Humanities, please visit www.calhum.org.

Project Ujima grant will help improve outreach

Project Ujima, San Diego Unified's parenting program for African-American families, has received a $1,500 grant from the Neighborhood Unity Foundation and San Diego Neighborhood Funders to establish the parent-to-parent mentoring program.

The program will provide Project Ujima parents and caregivers a stipend as well as funds for materials to recruit parents and caregivers to Project Ujima parent classes for parents with students in Title I schools in the "Diamond District," an area that includes schools in both the Lincoln and Morse high school clusters.

"This grant will help all of us to use the skills, knowledge and confidence they gained through their own participation in Project Ujima parenting classes," said program director Elneda Shannon, "to help other parents in San Diego Unified in general -- and the Diamond District, in particular -- become more engaged in the academic success and social development of their children.”

Project Ujima is a program of the San Diego Unified School District’s Parent Outreach and Engagement Department designed to augment and strengthen existing resources within African American families in Title I schools. Project Ujima provides positive and empowering trainings, resources and networks that support African American families seeking to promote academic achievement within the family and community.

The core program offers classes from October through May at Valencia Park Elementary School on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. Classes are also held at various Title 1 schools throughout the district. Although the program’s focus is on African American families, all families are welcome to participate.

For more information, please contact Shannon at (619) 293-4431 or eshannon@sandi.net.

Project Ujima Welcomes SDUSD African American Families for the Third Year

Harris family at event

Project Ujima opened its third year with 60 parents and 45 children at the Tubman Chavez Center in Southeastern San Diego on Thursday, October 13, 2011. Participant reactions during the first few minutes ranged from “first-timer curiosity” to “old-timer” jubilation — all woven together with welcomes, hugs, high fives, and ear-splitting smiles. As program instructors, childcare staff, translators, community members and Center staff bustled about making sure everyone registered, received course materials and settled in for the family style dinner, it was clear that program participants felt they were “returning home” or receiving a warm “first-timers” welcome into the Project Ujima family.

Project Ujima has something for the entire family. The typical program goes like this. After sharing dinner together, parents and children go their separate ways. Children go to supervised childcare that includes educational activities; youth go to the computer lab or designated homework stations to do schoolwork; and parents and community members settle in with

Project Ujima instructors to discuss the evening’s topic. The program ends with closing activities that usually result in parents obtaining educational materials for themselves or their children.
No matter the subject under discussion, seasoned Project Ujima parents walk through the door of the Tubman Chavez Center ready for an interactive learning experience that reaffirms their value as their children’s first teachers and equips them with additional resources to help promote the academic achievement of their children.

 Take the Harris family, for example. Michelle and Corwin came to opening night at Project Ujima prepared to reunite with members of the Project Ujima family and ready to help new participants settle in. In between getting caught up with friends and chatting with instructors, community members and new attendees, Michelle slipped off to the classroom to stake out two seats in the front row. Having participated with her family in Project Ujima’s fieldtrip to USC, Michelle knew the importance of sitting in the “T Zone” — the instructor’s immediate line of vision in the front of the classroom—and she and Corwin not only reminded their children to sit in the “T Zone” in their classes but also modeled this behavior in Project Ujima classes.

The Harris family also modeled being prepared to learn by coming to class armed with a knapsack filled with course materials designed to “let the learning begin.” Mom and Dad were clearly ready for what Michelle gleefully described as “the first day of school for parents.” The knapsack contained, among other things, a Project Ujima binder of course materials and readings from the previous year, pens and pencils, and a stack of credits that had earned them cash for summer learning activities with their children.

But what was opening night like for newcomers? One first-time attendee wasn’t convinced that taking parenting classes was her “cup of tea.” The participant just knew that if Project Ujima really was an opportunity to connect with other grandparents and great-grandparents who found themselves raising school-age children again long after their grown children had moved out of the house, she was “willing to give these parenting classes a try.” While she was somewhat curious about what the instructors could teach her about how to be a more effective parent, she was more interested in spending time with other grandparents and parents who knew what she was going through because “they found themselves in the same place. “ Within minutes, the participant was overheard telling her table-mates that she felt “rejuvenated … [and] welcome here … like family.”

The opening exercise for the October 13th class, advertised as “Project Ujima 101,” revolved around a practice known in the African American community as “Who’s in the House?” or “Who Are Your People?”—a series of questions that enables participants to determine the level of disclosure they want to have with other participants as they get acquainted with each other. Following the opening exercise, participants were introduced to the guiding principles of the program, information on how they could receive computers and internet access for their homes, and information on upcoming classes, as well as information on educational and social resources for parents.

A highlight of the evening was the disclosure by presenter Rachel Evans of the San Diego Futures Foundation that her own mother, an educator in the San Diego Unified School District, was a participant in the class. Rachel’s description of her mother’s role in helping her succeed academically served as a springboard for Rachel to commend all of the Project Ujima parents for “continuing to educate [themselves] about the educational system and ways to promote education in [their] families.” Rachel shared examples of how things her mom stressed to her as a child growing up still informed her adult decision-making and her commitment to giving back to the community through her work with the San Diego Futures Foundation.

Project Ujima is free and open to any parent in the San Diego Unified School District. The next class will be held on Nov. 10, 2011 from 5:30pm (dinner) to 7:30 p.m. at the Tubman Chavez Center, 415 North Euclid Avenue. The topic for the class is “An African American Perspective on Preparing for Parent-Teacher Conferences.”

For more information, visit the program's website.