Seeds of Wisdom, Inc.

I would use the Elevate Prize funding to advance our organization's vision to see today's boys develop into young men who create a better tomorrow. This funding would allow us to create a scholarship fund for our mentees as they graduate from high school. This would certainly be fantastic for our mentees, who will be first-generation college graduates. We would also use the funds to purchase a van to transport our mentees from around the city of Columbia for our bi-weekly mentoring sessions and social events. Most importantly, we can benefit from the coaching and support to further establish the infrastructure of our organization. We want our program to be sustainable, impactful, and one that changes lives for generations. 

Our mission is to promote the importance of integrity, discipline, education, and ambition. Our vision is to see today's boys develop into young men who create a better tomorrow. Without inspiration from my mom, Annette H. Baskett, Seeds of Wisdom would probably not exist. 

My mom was a single parent who did not complete college, earned less than $20,000 per year, and raised three kids to the best of her ability. She was adopted, an only child, and passed away in 2016 after succumbing to renal failure, peripheral vascular disease, and multiple amputations. However, she always encouraged me to pursue college so I wouldn't have to work as hard as she did in a manufacturing plant. 

I graduated college in 2012 and began my teaching career. I have nine years of experience as a public school district teacher and administrator. As a former English teacher and basketball coach, I knew that I could do even more in my community to mentor young men in middle and high school. That is how Seeds of Wisdom was born in 2017. I am for young men what I wish I had when I was their age. 

Seeds of Wisdom works to reduce juvenile delinquency and high school dropout rates. According to the most recent South Carolina Department of Education data from the 2018-2019 school year, more than 3,000 males dropped out of high school. Males represented approximately 62% of the 4,850 total dropouts in that school year. According to the National Dropout Prevention Center, high school dropouts are more likely to earn less over a lifetime than those who graduate from high school. Limited resources may cause dropouts to consider illegal activities to provide for themselves and their families.

As Seeds of Wisdom promotes the importance of integrity, discipline, education, and ambition, we are working to reduce those rates in Lexington and Richland counties. We meet bi-weekly with our young men, and our team of mentors checks in with their small groups on the weeks we don't have whole group sessions. We conduct book studies, deconstruct their experiences through the lens of our core values, and support them through challenging times such as the death of a father. We stand in the gap and provide the support of a village. 

We work through schools' communication channels (e.g., Peach Jar e-flyer distribution) to promote our organization to families. This has drawn interest from families with diverse backgrounds. We serve young men from single-parent homes, two-parent homes, foster children, and those raised by grandparents or another family member. Our organization is led by a founder & president who is a certified public school administrator that has refined his craft throughout his nine years of experience. He seeks to mentor these young men with a servant's heart. 

Our organization is taking steps to develop boys into young men who create a better tomorrow. 

Action steps:

• Bi-weekly mentoring sessions 
• Weekly check-ins between mentors/mentees
• Quarterly social events
• Host an annual conference with subject matter experts (e.g., attorneys, doctors, realtors, musicians, etc.)
• Planning to do college tours 

These steps are effective because young men need exposure to positive aspects of life with which they are unfamiliar. As they learn from mentors and subject matter experts, they begin to develop a vision for how they plan to contribute to society. In essence, they begin to live out our core values, which reduces the likelihood that they will drop out of high school.