By Amara N. Beaty, Staff Writer, Voice and Viewpoint
This past Saturday from 10 AM to 12 noon at the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (KIPJ), the 68 Black InGenius Initiative (BiGI) 2023 cohortians were celebrated for their scholarly efforts with an induction ceremony.
BiGI, a brand new initiative beginning this year, is a seven-year academic program helping children most affected by disproportionate educational inequities. The program begins with sixth graders, accompanying the middle school students throughout their entire high school experience with the goal of admitting them into USD, or any school for that matter.
Sixth grade is a specific choice according to BiGI “Godmother” Dr. Kimberly White-Smith, Ed.D., Dean of USD’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences.
“There’s a lot of research behind [starting with sixth graders]!” Dean White-Smith shared. The time between the fifth grade, where children receive a lot of support in elementary school, and then move to middle school in the sixth grade can be a little rocky for children the BiGI Godmother explained. “That’s where we see a lot of drop-off in student support and academic achievement and our students of color are the most impacted by that transition. So that’s why we pick that critical time to provide that bridge of support for them.”
Pamela Gray Payton, Vice President and Chief Impact & Partnerships Officer at San Diego Foundation (SDF), and Dean White-Smith, both dubbed BiGI “Godmothers”, are the powerhouses who dreamt up the “transformational” Black InGenius Initiative. She took the stage with Dean White-Smith upon accepting portraits of the two depicted as fairy godmothers. The portraits were presented to the two women by BiGI scholars.
“Watching this thing [BiGI] take place and grow and by the time we [were finished], we were in the exact same position we are in today. In tears,” said Payton upon accepting her portrait.
The USD program, partnering with SDF and the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD), received a $1.5 million grant from the SDF Black Community Investment Fund, which Payton launched with her SDF team. Mark Stuart, President and CEO of SDF, and SDUSD Superintendent Lamont A. Jackson accepted Community Partner of the Year Awards Saturday, on behalf of their respective organizations.
40 of the 68 middle schoolers this year are students within SDUSD. Superintendent Jackson along with SDUSD Board Trustee Sharon Whitehurst-Payne, offered their sincere support of the scholars and the Black InGenius Initiative. SDUSD will continue to draft students along with other San Diego school districts.
Applications opened in April for the 2023 academic year program which starts next month. Eight students from Jonas Salk Elementary and one from Hage Elementary were recently recognized for their being chosen to participate in the Black InGenius Initiative. The scholars who were inducted into the program Saturday morning were part of the BiGI Summer Academy, led by Ronald Clark, MA.
The ceremony ended with the Heartbeat Drumline leading the youth and their families into the Garden of the Sea behind the KIPJ building for a reception, providing plenty of refreshments and celebration.
