African American Studies Professor Omar Montgomery believes he has found the key to keeping African American boys on the right path. Montgomery has developed the curriculum for a program called Rites of Passage that takes an Afro-centric approach to address what he calls the crisis facing African American boys.

Rites of Passage is a 15-week program with weekly workshops on a variety of topics such as conflict resolution techniques, time management, career planning, proper ways to address the opposite sex and how to dress for different events. Kwanzaa principles are interwoven into the workshop topics. For instance, Ujima is the third day of Kwanzaa and means "collective work and responsibility." In the Ujima unit, participants learn about conflict resolution, goal setting, time management and mentor selection.

Montgomery believes the cultural component is key. "Most teachers are middle-class white women who have had limited contact with African American males," he says. He believes that the information gathered from this program will have important applications for school districts, educators and others looking for better ways to support African American youth.

A graduation ceremony for the first class of students was held Wednesday, May 11, at the Bennie E. Goodwin Center in Aurora. During the ceremony, each student, ranging in age from 8 to 15, discussed what he had learned from Rites of Passage and how he plans to apply that knowledge.

Montgomery says he will spend the summer and fall evaluating the program results and hopes to start a second Rites of Passage next spring.

In addition to support from Metro State and the African American Studies Department, Omega Psi Phi fraternity and the Association of Black Psychologists have been involved with creating Rites of Passage.