Boys 2 Men June 21

This week the Boys II Men crew had a very hectic day for the program. They started by finishing the audio project for the radio PSAs that they had started on the previous weeks. Andrew helped them accomplish this by taking them to the radio studio booth. The audio project, themed masculinity, was combined with video clips, music sound clips, and collective interviews from the youths of the Boys II Men program. There was great enthusiasm in the faces of the boys after walking in the radio room, knowing that they were being interviewed, and recorded about the issues of ‘masculinity’. This gave them a sense of empowerment as they feel that their opinion and choices matter while doing the radio PSAs. Some of the boys picked a role model that they felt was a strong, powerful masculine man. Their choices differed from sports athlete like Derrick Rose to political leaders like Martin Luther king and Mahatma Gandhi. Later on Rob Perry from the Salvation Army came to visit with the kids. Does he ever have a lot of surprises and treats for the boys! He played a lot of games with the boys such as icebreaker games and challenge activities. The biggest favorite was the Moral Dilemma. This is the game where the kids get to make decisions on a certain life scenario, and either they choose to make good or bad choices. The boys were given rewards when they were being respectful and were listening to the mentors with Jolly Ranchers. Overall, the boys learned a lot about life skills, teamwork, leadership, and most importantly, listening skills.