THREADS
THREADS is a boys’ mentorship program that focuses on factors that promote positive academic and social growth for young males. We achieve our goals through matching undergraduate males at Montclair State University with middle school boys in Newark, NJ in a weekly activities-based format. The program aims to cultivate an environment where middle school boys and their undergraduate mentors can talk about and strategize around issues that affect the boys’ behavior, development, future goals, and identity with school. The undergraduates have the opportunity to design and implement activities and culturally sustaining curricula in order to work alongside their mentees to address issues that impact their lives. By developing relationships with the mentees, the MSU mentors will learn about their strengths, interests and skillsets.
What does THREADS stand for?
Truth… Helping boys truly evaluate themselves, their world, and their place in it
Honor… Understanding the value in honoring community and culture
Respect… For self, women, and people in our lives
Education… Modeling academic identity and achievement
And… Because there is always more room to grow
Development of
Self… Commitment to personal improvement as an individual and a social being
Since 2014, THREADS has served Black and Latinx youth at several middle school sites throughout Newark, New Jersey through Montclair State University. Planned implementations in 2020 include Norfolk, VA (Norfolk State University) and Tallahassee, FL (Florida A&M University).
83% of youth graduate from high school, though more than 60% have a parent who did not have the necessary support to complete high school themselves.
Recent data from ‘Friends of the Children’, a national nonprofit that works to break the cycle of generational poverty by empowering youth to change their own stories.
Jamaal Sharif Matthews is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
Dr. Matthews’ research has been funded by the Spencer Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the American Psychological Association. He is also the recipient of several national awards and acknowledgements, including three competitive and prestigious dissertation awards from the American Psychological Association and ProQuest.
Harlyn Pacheco (pictured right) was one of THREADS’ original mentors at the University of Michigan in 2002.
Today Harlyn is COO at Picap and has fostered academic achievement through partnerships with New York City high schools and community-based organizations. During graduate school, Harlyn received numerous merit fellowships and led graduate level economic development research on Colombia and Cuba.
