Monthly Archives: April 2014

Talk to Your Sons About The L.A.Clippers

It has been front page news for a few days now: L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling allegedly made some outrageously offensive racist comments about Black people to his Black and Hispanic girlfriend. Talk to your sons about this situation, and ask them what they would do if they played for or were the coach of the L.A. Clippers. The [...]

By |2023-05-21T16:42:03-04:00April 29th, 2014|Ages 13-15, Ages 16-18, Ages 8-12, College Bound Students, Parents, Saving Our Sons, Sports|Comments Off on Talk to Your Sons About The L.A.Clippers

Thoughtful Thursday: Spring Poems

Notwithstanding the strong chill in the air and the whipping winds that continue to greet us each morning on the East Coast, it is Spring, so it is about time that we pay tribute to the season on Thoughtful Thursday. We shall do so with a hodgepodge of poems about Spring. We begin with two poems by classic African [...]

By |2023-05-21T16:42:03-04:00April 24th, 2014|Thoughtful Thursday|Comments Off on Thoughtful Thursday: Spring Poems

April is Volunteer Month — Tell Your Sons About This Inspirational Volunteer

Did you know that April, in addition to being Poetry month and Mathematics month is also Volunteer month? (Who makes these designations, we ask?) Anyway, in April we pay tribute to the people who dedicate themselves to taking action and solving problems in our communities. And here at GCP we are happy to spread the word about young Hector [...]

By |2023-05-21T16:42:03-04:00April 23rd, 2014|Ages 13-15, Ages 16-18, Parents, Resources|Comments Off on April is Volunteer Month — Tell Your Sons About This Inspirational Volunteer

Thoughtful Thursday: Thinking about Math

Did you know that April was Math Awareness month? So we at GCP are turning our thoughts to mathematics. We pay tribute to Benjamin Banneker, present some math quotes, and, as April is still Poetry Month as well, present a math based Langston Hughes poem. Enjoy. Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) was a largely self-educated mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs, inventor [...]

By |2023-05-21T16:42:03-04:00April 17th, 2014|Thoughtful Thursday|1 Comment

Good News on the College Admissions Front

For the fifth year in a row, all 240 of Chicago's Urban Prep Academies seniors have been accepted into over 200 four year colleges and universities. The seniors, all African American young men, celebrated their success at a ceremony where they exchanged the red ties of their daily uniform for the red and gold striped ties signaling their impressive [...]

By |2023-05-21T16:42:03-04:00April 16th, 2014|Academics, Admissions, College Bound Students|Comments Off on Good News on the College Admissions Front

Family Ties: How Can Parents Help Create Them?

A good male friend recently described the relationship between his two teen sons as "non-existent". Different social circles, different schools, unconnected lives living in the same house. If one is away for a while, the other will eventually ask about him, but only casually, and he certainly doesn't want his brother to know that he cares. My friend assures [...]

Thoughtful Thursday: It’s National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry month, and in honor of this, today's Thoughtful Thursday will feature two poems about writing poetry. John Brehm's "The Poems I Have Not Written", and Billy Collins' "Workshop," use humor to offer insight into the poetry writing process. Enjoy. The Poems I Have Not Written I’m so wildly unprolific, the poems I have not written [...]

By |2023-05-21T16:42:03-04:00April 10th, 2014|Resources, Thoughtful Thursday|Comments Off on Thoughtful Thursday: It’s National Poetry Month!

Are You Focused on Your Son’s Arts Education? You Should Be.

Does your son's school offer arts education? If it is a New York City public school, there is a good chance it doesn't, according to a report recently released by the NYC Comptroller's office, and covered here by the New York Times. The report shows that 20 percent of NYC public schools lack any arts teachers, including roughly one [...]

By |2023-05-21T16:42:03-04:00April 10th, 2014|Ages 13-15, Ages 16-18, Ages 5-7, Ages 8-12, Parents|Comments Off on Are You Focused on Your Son’s Arts Education? You Should Be.

GCP Food for Thought

Just a quick posting of two thought-provoking articles: In "Teaching My Son to Love Himself", found here, author Faye McCray wonders about the extent to which her son struggles with issues of identity when he finds a white girl is prettier than a Black one. A white father of an African-American son shares "What I Learned About Stop-and-Frisk From [...]

By |2023-05-21T16:42:03-04:00April 8th, 2014|Parents, Resources, Saving Our Sons|Comments Off on GCP Food for Thought

Thoughtful Thursday: Classic Expressions to Share with your Sons

Yes, we know it is not Thursday. But we so love Thoughtful Thursday that even though we were not able to post yesterday, we are posting it today. When we were unable to post, the old expression "a day late and a dollar short" rang in our ears. So, we've decided to devote today's Thoughtful Thursday to favorite expressions [...]

By |2023-05-21T16:42:03-04:00April 4th, 2014|Resources, Thoughtful Thursday|2 Comments
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