Founded by Mashari Tyson, Black Excellence Group is a kinder and early elementary school program designed to show love to Black students every day in every way. In the digital age, it is important that our children have socioemotional connections with others. Out of the investment for her own family, Mashari wanted to bring what she knew she wanted for her own children, to other Black students at her children’s school. Black Excellence Group aims to fill in the cracks where Black students may have fallen and nourish their growth and help them to feel special and feel connected to their school community. Starting at Kinder, Black Student Excellence attendees go through five modules of engagement:

You Belong You are Valued You are Loved You are Able You are Excellent

The lessons are built around providing students with consistent messaging and playful activities so that students can eventually have their own “aha” moments of feeling that they belong. Every module has set skills for students to learn and add to their socioemotional toolbox so that they will be able to use it at any time. In their weekly Black Excellence meetings, students repeat the five module titles with one another as personal and verbal reminders of their own and collective values. In these meetings, facilitators are welcoming them, they are greeting each other, doing activities, hearing a guest speaker or being read a book, and doing the “Black Excellence handshake”.

Outside of the weekly sessions student experience with Black Excellence, students are walking into and unplugging in their own dedicated space, away from their usual school duties. This space is available to students every day to go to and recenter themselves.

The greater goal of the Black Excellence team is to take the youngest of our Black students and help them foster a high sense of self. There is also hope that when Black students see and learn from Black adults who are fostering their sense of self and pride, something will shift the emotional journey of these students. Black Excellence has grown to fill in the gaps at a few school’s within the Portland Public School (PPS) system and hopes to expand to more. They have scaled out to have partnerships with PPS Counseling Department, Teaching and Learning, the Racial Equity and Social Justice Team (RESJ), and the Superintendent's office. Black Excellence is in its third year of engagement and has really brought a program that has really shaped the way we show love and care to PPS students.