IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 36 

Honoring the 22 years of mentoring, guidance, and educational assistance 

provided by the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project and recognizing 

its positive impact on the lives of at-risk boys and men of color. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2015 

Ms. WILSON of Florida submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the 22 years of mentoring, guidance, and educational assistance provided by the 5000 Role Models 

of Excellence Project and recognizing its positive impact 

on the lives of at-risk boys and men of color. 

Whereas, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project will celebrate its 22nd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Unity Scholarship Breakfast on Monday, January 19, 

2015; 

Whereas, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, an inschool dropout prevention/mentoring program for at-risk 

minority boys ages 9–19, was created to boost the selfimage, social skills, and academic performance of young 

minority boys and men by motivating them to interact 

with successful males in their communities; 


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Whereas, in 1993, as a member of the Miami-Dade County 

School Board, Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson 

founded the 500 African American Male Role Models of 

Excellence program; 

Whereas, in 1994, the 500 African American Male Role Models of Excellence program’s name was changed to the 

5000 Role Models of Excellence Project as a response to 

increased enrollment of mentors and students; 

Whereas, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project believes 

the entire community must be involved in the process of 

changing the direction of our youth; 

Whereas, the vision of the 5000 Role Models of Excellence 

Project is that each minority male student graduate from 

high school, go to college, vocational school, or the military, and be positioned to become a contributing and selfsustaining member of society; 

Whereas, the goals of the 5000 Role Models of Excellence 

Project are to place at-risk boys in supportive relationships with positive and successful men in the community 

who they can emulate, educate program participants 

about the consequences of succumbing to societal pitfalls 

and expose them to alternatives to self-destructive behaviors, and provide a program infrastructure that will empower adult community Role Models to assume responsibility for preparing young men to effectively deal with the 

challenges and struggles that threaten their success; 

Whereas, mentors meet with students at least once per week 

in-school for two hours during the school year, and at 

least three to four times per year for an extracurricular 

activity on weekends or during the summer; 


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Whereas, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project consists 

of 26 components including alcohol, tobacco, and other 

drug awareness ‘‘Fridays,’’ employment opportunities, 

and African-American history and culture; 

Whereas, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project allows 

at-risk youth to take part in tours of colleges, courtrooms, hospitals, and prisons, as well as seminars on 

anger management, relations with law enforcement, respect for the law, respect for women, and violence prevention; 

Whereas, teachers have reported a drastic reduction in the 

number of students with disciplinary problems and over 

95 percent of the students who begin the program graduate without further violations of student conduct codes 

or the law; 

Whereas, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project is funded through generous donations from individuals, corporations, local colleges, hospitals, and civic and social agencies; 

Whereas, in April 1997, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence 

Project played a major role in the formation of America’s 

Promise Alliance born from the Presidents’ Summit for 

America’s Future held in Philadelphia; 

Whereas, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project was 

featured in the article titled A Program That Works, by 

syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr., as part of a series on successful programs that work for African-American youth; 

Whereas, the list of prominent Americans involved with the 

5000 Role Models of Excellence Project is comprised of 

leading figures in politics, literature, space exploration, 


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and entertainment, including Presidents Barack Obama, 

Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald 

Ford; Vice President Al Gore; Secretary of State Hillary 

Clinton; Gen. Colin Powell; Governor Jeb Bush; Lt. Governor Buddy McKay; Senators Bob Graham and Bill Nelson; actors Danny Glover, Malik Yoba, Kerry Washington, Charles ‘‘Roc’’ Dutton, Tommy Ford, Christopher 

‘‘Play’’ Martin, and JoMarie Payton-Noble; media personalities Tom Joyner, Tavis Smiley, Bill O’Reilly, and 

Montel Williams; musicians Harry Belafonte and Bobby 

Jones; astronauts Winston Scott and Charles Bolden; authors Jawanza Kunjufu, Leonard Pitts, Nathan McCall, 

Dr. Leah Tutu, Maya Angelou, James McBride, Dr. 

Randall Pinkett, and Dr. Alvin Poussaint; athletes Lester 

Jean, Udonis Haslem, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille 

O’Neal, Billy Thompson, Irvin Thomas, Isiah Thomas, 

Oronde Gadsden, Keith Jackson, Jim Brown, and Tiger 

Woods; and activists the Rev. Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King, III, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson; 

Whereas, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project serves 

over 8,000 students in 101 schools through the efforts of 

over 6,000 volunteers within Miami-Dade County Public 

Schools; 

Whereas, over $10 million in college scholarships have been 

awarded to students successfully completing the program; 

and 

Whereas, the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project has received numerous accolades, including the Miami-Dade 

County Public Schools—National Mentoring Month Service Award (2014), Incorporated Southern Area Services 

Youth Award (2013), A Program That Works (2013), 

the Theodore R. Gibson Memorial Fund, Inc. Dedication 


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to Service Award (2012), the National Medical Association’s Scroll of Merit Award (2008), Florida’s First 

Union Kids Count Award (1998), Florida’s Promise to 

Youth Award (1998), M–DCPS School Board’s Magna 

National Award (1998), Florida’s Promise to Youth 

Award (1998), the President’s Summit for America’s Future Teaching Example for the Nation (1997), The Bold 

and Blood Award Pennsylvania Legislature (1995); in 

addition to being recognized by The Links, Inc., the National Conference of Black Mayors, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Miami-Dade County— 

Office of the Mayor for extraordinary service to the community and to the youth: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the U.S. House of Representatives— 

2 (1) honors the 5000 Role Models of Excellence 

3 Project on its 22 years of making a difference in the 

4 lives of at-risk minority boys and men; 

5 (2) recognizes and commends Congresswoman 

6 Frederica S. Wilson for founding an organization de7 voted to improving the self-image, social skills, and 

8 academic performance of young minority boys and 

9 men; 

10 (3) applauds the mentors for dedicating their 

11 time and efforts to enriching the lives of the stu12 dents who participate in the program; and 

13 (4) celebrates the young minority boys and men 

14 who have graduated successfully from the program 


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1 and have gone on to become productive members of 

2 society. 

Æ 


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