San Jose Alumnae's IMAGES program for Girls
"In order to succeed, We must learn to lead."
The IMAGES Program represents a natural outgrowth and extension for the continuation of the acclaimed Dr. Betty Shabazz Delta Academy. It spotlight teenage girls between the ages of 14-18 in grades 9 through 12, in Santa Clara County. IMAGES young women are identified by schools, churches, youth groups and/or former IMAGES participants.
The IMAGES program, a community service project of the San Jose Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., centers on developing strong, confident and respectful young ladies by striving to prepare them to take active roles in their success and in society at-large. These objectives are accomplished with a focus on:
Encouraging higher educational and career aspirations in African American females by making them aware of the current facts concerning their roles in the workplace.
Encouraging students to plan for economic self-sufficiency by increasing their knowledge about the income required to support a family.
Encouraging students to delay parenthood by increasing their knowledge about the economic, social, emotional and physical costs of childrearing.
Discouraging self-destructive behaviors such as drug/alcohol abuse, pregnancy or dropping out of school by increasing the students' self-esteem and helping them to visualize rewarding and self reliant futures.
Providing mentors from varied backgrounds and careers (traditional and non-traditional)
Encouraging African American females to accept responsibility, and involve themselves in more critical thinking and problem solving.
The program serves as a motivational tool for African-American teenage girls with the ultimate goal of increasing their knowledge and awareness of issues affecting women of color today. The outcomes of the program will be accomplished through a variety of workshops to include:
Scholarship (Academic Excellence and College Preparation);
Sisterhood (Images of Blackness - The African Diaspora and Physical Health - Walk it out);
Financial Awareness (Got Paper?); and
Service (Voter Registration Through Community Service).