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| Martinsville NSBE junior chapter called exemplary |
Cedric Brown (from left), president of the Martinsville-Henry County junior chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, talks with Dr. Grace Carroll and Helen Howell during a recent gathering at Forest Park Country Club. |
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Wednesday, December 20, 2006
By AMANDA BUCK - Bulletin Staff Writer
Faculty sponsor Helen Howell has believed for years that the students in Martinsville’s junior chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers are exemplary.
As it turns out, the organization’s national leaders agree.
Last weekend, NSBE sent Dr. Grace Carroll, an educational consultant based in Oakland, Calif., to Martinsville to study the chapter, which Howell founded in 1999. Carroll plans to use the group’s success as an example for clubs across the nation.
“We felt it was important to look at stellar programs so people would be able to see what they’re doing” and learn from them, Carroll said. “ ... Martinsville has made a name for themselves as consistently outstanding.”
Founded at Purdue University in 1971, NSBE is the nation’s largest student-managed organization, according to its Web site. Its mission is to increase the number of black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.
Although most NSBE chapters are made up of college students, the organization also serves middle and high school students through its Pre-College Initiative (PCI). The goal of the PCI programs is to encourage minority students to pursue engineering careers and boost membership in the organization at the college level, Carroll said.
The Martinsville-Henry County junior chapter, which has 54 members in grades six through 12, is an excellent example of a successful PCI program, she said.
Since Howell, who teaches business at Martinsville Middle School, formed the chapter, members have taken part in NSBE conferences in several states, including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida. Last spring, five local students traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, to help explore the possibility of starting NSBE chapters there.
NSBE funds the trips through contributions, fund-raising and donations from businesses, Howell said.
The trips are just one way NSBE broadens members’ horizons, said Cedric Brown, a Martinsville High School senior who is president of the local chapter.
A member since he was in the seventh grade, Brown said he was interested in computer engineering before he joined the chapter. But meeting college students and professionals at the conferences and learning about career possibilities has opened his eyes and helped solidify his plans to go into the field, he said.
Nakeisha Davis, another NSBE member, agreed. She said she joined NSBE as a seventh-grader because “it was an organization consisting of people of color that were doing something positive.”
In October, NSBE did something positive for Davis when she was named the organization’s national female student of the year. The honor came with a $4,000 college scholarship.
Davis said being involved with NSBE has helped her turn an interest in science and math into a plan to study biomedical engineering in college.
Both Brown, the son of Paul and Michelle Brown of Martinsville, and Davis, the daughter of Shirley Davis and Chauncey Redd of Martinsville, said that even though being in the NSBE chapter has opened doors for them, they were surprised when their group was selected to be an example for the nation.
“I’m happy about it because most people don’t really know what NSBE is,” Davis said. “I’m happy they’re getting some attention.”
Carroll, who spent 10 years as director of African American student development at the University of California at Berkeley, focused her attention on as many aspects of the local chapter as she could during her two-day visit. In addition to an in-depth interview with Howell, she spoke to students, parents and local government, educational and religious leaders.
She gave much of the credit for the chapter’s success to Howell, who said seeing the way NSBE helps students makes all her work worthwhile.
“It’s just amazing what it does for those kids,” she said.
Carroll said her visit, which is part of a year-long national evaluation, will help “put texture and meat on the bones of what we already have.”
She will combine the information from her Martinsville visit with that from the other three or four chapters she is studying. Those evaluations then will be combined with survey results from hundreds of students, facilitators and professionals; conference and contest evaluations; and other information, Carroll said.
“All the data will be incorporated into a report to set recommendations for NSBE and an action plan of how they can implement them,” she said.
When the report is complete, Carroll will spend another year working with the organization to help it implement the suggestions — a process organizers hope will lead to growth in the number of PCI programs and other positive changes.
Although she did not know much about NSBE before she began consulting for it, Carroll said she has been nothing but impressed with the things she has seen so far. It makes her want to help students such as those in Martinsville share their success, she said.
“I want to help them tell their stories,” she said. “Too often, the media deals with the negative” when it focuses on black Americans. “NSBE is a refreshing break from that.” |
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