More than 250 students came out to take part in the 10th Annual African American Male Summit Saturday morning at Princess Anne High School. Originally scheduled for the first weekend in January, the event was rescheduled after Winter Storm Helena.
Throughout the five hour event, students took part in a variety of team building exercises and breakout sessions on a variety of topics that impact today’s youth. Additionally, students had time to network with college representatives and local businesses to talk about post-graduation opportunities.
Wrapping up the day together was this year’s keynote speaker, Virginia Beach Deputy City Manager Dr. Kenneth Chandler. According to the city, Chandler has more than 25 years of executive level public sector experience in communities including Arlington County, Portsmouth and Richmond, all in Virginia; Dallas, Texas; and, most recently, the District of Columbia. In his current role, Chandler oversees the Virginia Beach departments of Human Services, Libraries, Parks and Recreation, Human Resources and Public Health as well as the offices of Organizational Development and Volunteer Resources.
The summit is open to young men in grades eight through 12 across the school division. In addition, fifth-grade students from elementary schools that feed to Princess Anne High School were also invited to take part in the summit. And, as in years past, parents attended the summit to take part in the Parent Institute, where they had their own breakout sessions with topics such as college and career readiness as well as guidance services.
This was an amazing ! I am very proud of the organizers, participants, speakers, and City of Virginia Beach for putting together such a class event.