If you are looking to build your resume and prepare yourself for life after high school, then look no further than Alpha Achievers. Alpha Achievers is an educational program offered in all 12 Howard County schools which targets high school level African American males and other minorities. The main eligibility requirement of the program is that students must sustain at least a 3.0 GPA to join. Even though many students do not know what belonging to the club entails, it is extraordinarily beneficial to its members.

In order to join you need a teacher recommendation; that is how Dejuan Allen, a junior at Long Reach, got in. “I was recommended by Mr. Bond; I just talked to him,” said Allen. “You just need two teacher recommendations and go to the ceremony to be formally inducted.”

After students are in, they realize just how lucky they are to be there. Alpha Achievers is not the average club. “It gives me opportunities that I would have never gotten if I hadn’t joined,” said Charles Thompson, a sophomore Alpha Achievers member. “We help throughout the community, and I like to surround myself with other intelligent blacks/minorities.”

The head sponsor of the Alpha Achievers program is American Government teacher Mr. Bond. He is a great mentor for members involved,  which may be why students appreciate their club sponsor. He has multiple ways of helping members sustain their GPA’s and keeping them on track. “I monitor their grades and I meet with teachers and parents,” he explained.  

Mr. Bond also has the support of his students. Thompson says, “Mr. Bond is a great teacher. He genuinely cares about his students and wants them to succeed.” Mr. Bond is such a likeable and approachable person, it makes it much easier for students to comfortably talk to him about joining.

If interested in joining, he is the the right person to contact. Mr. Bond added other numerous additional benefits to joining such as: “Monitoring grades, access to scholarships, increased college awareness, and community service opportunities. Another benefit is that members go to leadership conferences where you hear from people who went to college.” Some of the community service opportunities include volunteering at Ducketts Lane Elementary School and Oakland Mills High School where members tutor elementary schoolers.

Furthermore, this is truly a dynamic club that helps students in a multitude of ways. Alpha Achievers enhanced one of its senior member’s high school experience in a unique way. Senior Martin Muse said, “I’m glad I [joined] because it helped me meet new people, being [that] I was new to the school.” Not only does the program assist students with their education, but it can help them socially adapt to new settings as well.

 High school does not last forever, and sooner rather than later we are going to be in the real world. Getting involved in extracurricular activities is always a plus when applying for college; however, being in a fraternity such as Alpha Achievers provides students with certain benefits other programs cannot, such as skills applicable for reaching the field of corporate America.  If you are looking to better yourself and make a good impression on those college applications, then take full advantage of this program and become an Alpha Achiever.