Overview

E-SToPP’s Educational Reentry Mentoring Program is part of E-SToPP’s larger effort to eliminate systemic obstacles that disproportionately funnel Black and Brown youth into the school-to-prison pipeline.

Mission

E-SToPP’s Educational Reentry Mentoring Program serves youth who: (a) have been out of school more than in school; (b) are suspended, expelled, or incarcerated; and (c) are reentering school, family, and community after suspension, expulsion, or incarceration.  E-SToPP’s Educational Mentoring Reentry Program is held at our partnering “school-to-prison pipeline” locations, including Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and Boot Camp; and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice’s Miami-Dade Regional Juvenile Detention Center.

Purpose

The purpose of E-SToPP’s Educational Reentry Mentoring Program is to collaborate with adults involved with the youth in our programs to empower and prepare youth before or during their suspension, expulsion, or detention, as well as after their release and reentry to school, family, and community, to take an active role in learning, living, and improving society.  Specifically, E-SToPP’s Educational Mentoring Reentry Program is a pedagogical group mentoring of youth that uses experiential learning, structured dialogue, inquiry processes, and critical literacy practices to promote critical conscious awareness, community-building, conflict resolution, communication, leadership, advocacy, and civic engagement.

Transformative Model

E-SToPP’s Educational Reentry Mentoring Program promotes Transformative Literacy Enrichment Classes as an interpersonal and multi-generational empowering culture of thinking, critical community of practice, and community meeting format that builds on youths’ cultural histories, strengths, talents, and positive goals.  E-SToPP’s Educational Mentoring Reentry Program is a safe space for youth and adults to problematize and discuss critical issues and topics relevant to their lives, using a wide array of books to learn how to read the word and the world.  This safe space gives everyone involved a chance to hear each other’s perspectives in a way that opens their hearts and minds to learn more about themselves and each other and how they could work together toward solving the critical issues and topics under discussion.

Significance

The short-term benefits for youth and adults who participate in E-SToPP’s Educational Reentry Mentoring Program are increased (a) voice, self-confidence, creative thinking; (b) congruent communication, literacy, problem-solving skills; (c) community style leadership qualities; and (d) constructive interpersonal, and multi-generational social interactions with peers, community members, and staff.

The long-term benefits for youth and adults who participate in E-SToPP’s Educational Reentry Mentoring Program are an awareness of how (a) learning about others’ perspectives in a safe space group discussion opens hearts and minds toward working together solving problems that will increase the possibility of dismantling oppressive roadblocks and conditions that schools and society disproportionately put on Black and Brown youth; and, thereby (b) paving the way for all youths’ successful high school graduation, college, work, and a healthy life as leaders in their community and society.

Ultimately, these philosophic and systemic achievements translate to safer communities; more people working; more children attending school successfully; fewer students suspended, expelled, and incarcerated; more community members engaged in positive activities; more money spent on building transformative schools and educational opportunities; and less money spent on building prisons.

If interested in joining E-SToPP’s grass-roots effort to develop transformative  programs as an intern or partnering location, Join Our Team or Contact Us.