Established to provide girls (7-17 years old) with the opportunity to learn the vital life skill of effective communication, Polished Pebbles girls mentoring group is changing the lives of girls throughout the Chicagoland area.

Polished Pebbles is on a mission to teach girls how to combat the challenges of life through the substitution of aggressive forms of communication and problem solving with new strategies that allow them to gain a respectable reputation without aggression.

In partnership with local schools, businesses, and over 75 volunteer mentors, Polished Pebbles has helped girls learn how to exhibit poise, react responsibly as opposed to retaliating, demonstrate assertiveness versus aggressiveness, identify the difference between class and sass, and become polished individuals.

This February, Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program will celebrate Men’s Month 2012. Men’s Month presents males with a unique opportunity to step foot into an all-female Polished Pebbles mentoring sessions and offer a male perspective on many of the issues facing young women today in society. Men’s Week 2011 experienced great success with over 30 men participating in various mentoring sessions held throughout the week.

Due to how successful the week was last year, the weeklong mentoring initiative has now been extended to a whole month.  Polished Pebbles is excited to invite fraternities, men’s organizations, church groups, and independent, successful and talented men to mentor for a day.

Male mentors will participate in sessions at one of the Polished Pebbles’ partnering schools and communities (University of Chicago Donoghue, Woodlawn, and Kenwood-Oakland Charter Schools & Dearborn Homes). The men will provide the young girls with advice on school, family, and friend issues, discuss how to create career goals and fulfill them, and share their own personal experiences & success stories.

In addition to inviting men to mentoring sessions during the month of February, Polished Pebbles will also be hosting its first Daddy-Daughter Dance to honor males that have positively impacted the Pebbles’ lives. The dance will take place on Saturday, Feb. 11 at University of Chicago Donoghue Charter School at 707 E. 37^th Street from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM. Anyone interested in attending should email the organization at info@polishedpebbles.com. Notable men who will be attending include Sixth Ward Alderman Rod Sawyer, CBS News’ traffic reporter Derrick Young, CEO/Editor Carl West of Truth Be Told News Service, and Steven Powell, a national mentoring advocate from Mentoring USA.

In many traditional African societies, transitions from one life stage to the next - from birth through death - were marked with specific and predetermined rites of passage.

Councils of Elders have their roots in indigenous African communities which viewed the Elders as repositories of knowledge and wisdom, and more importantly, as the guardians and purveyors of a community's values, traditions, norms and interests.

Encourage Youth to Honor Dr. MLK in Their Own Way

By Hakeemah Jihad

All our children want to be are stars! All Stars Project, Inc. (ASP) understands the aspirations and dreams of our children! ASP is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting human development through the use of a performance-based model. Development School for Youth, and Youth Onstage! ASP creates outside of school, educational and performing arts activities for thousands of poor and minority young people. Founded in 1981, ASP is headquartered in New York City and reaches more than 10,000 young people a year through programs in New York, Newark, New Jersey, San Francisco/Bay Area, and Chicago—and through programs inspired by its model in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Namibia, and South Africa.

On a sunny day in January, All Stars Project of Chicago celebrated the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in their new office located at 53 W Jackson in Chicago in a talent show filled with some of the youngest talent Chicago had to offer. Entertainment included rappers, singers, skaters, dancers, and poets ranging in age of 5 to 25. The event was not only entertaining, but educational as well. Margo Cook, Board of Director of  All Stars Project of Chicago, initiated the event with an introduction of the organization’s 30 year history in the community, kind words of the warm and spirited Director, David Cherry, and his impact on the youth of Chicago.  David Cherry, a native of New York, addressed the audience with great zeal and passion for the mission of the organization, while youth participants screamed with their approval and support for the man that brought them so much excitement about the mission of All Stars Project of Chicago.

Performers were interviewed and asked to share what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. meant to them while they captivated a diverse and packed audience, painting a picture of unity and acceptance. One performer quoted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Your back can never be rode unless it’s bent.” Another performer thanked Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for making the environment safe for them to express themselves by promoting a message of respect and tolerance for all. The event ended with all of the performers coming on the stage and encouraging the audience to join them in singing happy birthday to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Song and praise was followed by a big birthday cake for MLK and social engagement of people of various ages, ethnicities, and economic status! Mission fulfilled! Young stars were made on that day!

(Link to news coverage of event)

For more information on All Stars Project, Inc. and All Stars Project locations in other cities, please visit www.allstars.org. If you would like to volunteer or learn more about All Stars Project of Chicago, visit www.alstars.org/chicago, contact Director, David Cherry at www. dcherry@allstars.org or at 312-360-0660.