Hoping to narrow educational gaps between its White and Black students, the Bowling Green Independent School District will launch its Black Male Scholars program featuring dual initiatives for both the summer and school year.

“In every category, our African American students are the most underperforming in reading and math,” Bowling Green Junior High School Principal Robert Lightning said Tuesday in announcing the program in a news release.

The Black Male Scholars program aims to address the systemic factors that put Black students in particular at a disadvantage.

“When we look at access to challenging curriculum, and the enrollment of African American students in advanced courses, what we hear is they do not enroll because they don’t see other kids who look like them. We have to acknowledge the problem and decide what we are going to do about it,” Lightning said.

The program has two main initiatives: a Summer Scholars program for grades 6 through 8, and beginning in August, a Black Male Scholars program with room for up to 25 incoming sixth graders.

According to the district, the Black Male Scholars program will center on a curriculum and content taught through the lens of African American history and culture.

It will also provide social and emotional group sessions and activities aimed at helping them plan for a post-graduation career. Mentors and caregivers will also strive to help foster a sense of belonging among the district’s Black students.

Overall, the program will play to Black students’ strengths – not their deficits – while holding them to high expectations, the district said.

The Summer Scholars program, which will be offered for six weeks in the summer, will be opened to 60 and 75 Black students. The six-week session will be divided into two smaller three-week sessions focusing on literacy and foundational math skills, plus education on health and wellness, financial literacy and mentorship opportunities.

The sixth grade students in the Black Male Scholars program will study together and complete core content including English, math, social studies and science, each with a focus on African American history and culture. Students will also get to take two electives based on their interests and they’ll be encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities offered at Bowling Green Junior High School.

Lightning and Darlene Porter, a BGJHS assistant principal who supervises the sixth grade, will begin recruiting students for the program this week and plan to hold an informational night for interested students and their families April 27 at 5:30 p.m. at Bowling Green Junior High.

Summer Scholar Invitations will be distributed at BGJHS soon.

– Follow education reporter Aaron Mudd on Twitter @NewsByAaron or visit bgdailynews.com.