Posted on August 3, 2016 by BFFAdmin -
The Best Men Logo
The Best Men logo symbolizes a modern day knight of honor who believes in the values of strength, courage, foresight, truth, and justice. The shield is divided into four quadrants representing key components of the Best Men program.
- The eagle. A symbol of foresight. The boys focus on daily challenges as well as their future goals. They learn the importance of organization and planning.
- The lion. A symbol of strength and courage. The boys learn to have the self-confidence to stand up for their beliefs and for what is right.
- The anchor. A symbol of stability. The boys develop the ability to stand up to negative peer pressure, to make positive decisions on their own and to have self-control.
- The gavel. A symbol of truth and justice. They boys are taught to be truthful and fair in their dealings with others and to use good decision-making skills in the pursuit of integrity.
Learn More
Best Men defines a man as having strength and courage balanced with stability and as one who exhibits foresight and believes in truth and justice.
Posted on August 3, 2016 by BFFAdmin -
Posted on August 3, 2016 by BFFAdmin -
What We Believe
- The best kind of friend is one who encourages you to be a better person.
- The best decision is to avoid sex until marriage or until a long term mutually exclusive relationship.
- Sex is never a test of love.
- The decision not to have sex until marriage is a good one.
- The decision not to take drugs is a good one. It is illegal to take drugs.
- The decision not to drink alcohol in high school is a good one. In most jurisdictions it is illegal to drink alcoholic beverages before the age of 21.
- Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life. Past mistakes do not mean that one must continue in the same pattern.
To reduce unwed teenage childbearing, it may be necessary to foster relationships with adult women mentors who can exercise firm guidance and give direction as well as support. Dr. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead
Posted on August 3, 2016 by BFFAdmin -
Diamond Girl Leadership
When Best Friends girls reach ninth grade, they enter the Diamond Girl Leadership, a program designed to keep girls interested, involved, and committed to their character development through high school and college.
All Diamond Girls participate in the Diamond Girl Jazz Choir or Performance Dance Troupe which fosters discipline as well as the social and presentation skills important for future success. Our goal is for all Diamond Girls to graduate from high school with specific college, vocational, or career plans.
Diamond Girl Leadership Curriculum Follow this link to see our curriculum subjects and schedule for a school year. You can also view a .pdf file of a sample section of our curriculum program guide. This page also provides a table of contents list of our curriculum subjects and resources to consider for use in your own youth development/character building pro-gram.
For Best Friend Foundation high school seminar students:
Developed by professionals with almost 40 years of experience in linking high school students with colleges and universities, My College Options® connects students to 2,000 colleges and universities nationwide and has almost 5 .5 million students already enrolled. The My College Options® system of matching students with the colleges and universities that are right for them will play a large role in helping students reach their post-secondary goals.
Encourage Academic Excellence
Please join us in helping Best Friends girls reach for the stars and achieve their dreams by donating to the Best Friends College Council Scholarship Fund. The Best Friends College Council Scholarship Fund encourages academic excellence by assisting qualified Diamond Girls with their college tuition. From 1996 through 2010, Best Friends Foundation granted over 1.5 million dollars in scholarships.
Eligibility
Scholarships are awarded on a semester-by-semester basis according to the following criteria:
- Participation in Best Friends for at least six years before high school graduation;
- Enthusiasm and overall commitment to Best Friends and its messages;
- Demonstrated leadership;
- Academic aptitude and performance; and
- Courage in overcoming personal adversity.
Our Record
- 100% of Best Friends high school girls have graduated from high school in Washington, DC, a city where only 64% of public high school students graduate. *According to the 2014-2015 graduation rate from DCPS.
- Many Diamond Girls have received help with their college tuition from the Best Friends College Council Scholarship Fund.
- Hundreds of Best Friends girls have graduated from college and many have attended graduate schools.
- Best Friends Foundation has granted $1.5 Million in scholarships from 1996 through 2010.
- Best Friends and Best Men scholarship recipients currently attend schools listed under Keeping Up With Best Friends & Best Men Network
Best Friends has given me the self-esteem needed to pursue a career in communications. When I began the program, I was a very shy and soft-spoken 13 year old. Through Best Friends, I have blossomed into a young woman who is not afraid to speak her mind, follow her dreams, and strive for the best. It is easy to have this outlook on life when so many people believe not only that you can, but that you will succeed. Thanks to financial sup-port from Best Friends, I have been able to attend school with few financial problems.
Best Friends Graduate Senior, Temple University
Thank you for all you have done. You have really influenced my decision today.
High School Student
Posted on August 2, 2016 by BFFAdmin -
Start a New Program
The school district agrees to secure financial and community support needed for the program’s effectiveness. Support may come from many sources, including donations from individuals and corporations, funds allocated by the local school board, and grants from community and national foundations. Best Friends programs may be supported by funding for character education, drug prevention, AIDS prevention, and public health grants awarded by state and local governments.
Best Friends programs may operate in public, private, and religious schools. To obtain additional information on the Best Friends and Diamond Girl Leadership programs, contact the Foundation at:
Elayne Bennett
Best Friends Foundation
P.O Box 42135
Washington, DC 20015
Phone: 202.394.4501
Fax: 301.907.8894
Application Procedure Steps
- Identify an enthusiastic principal of an elementary or middle school to begin the program for a class of sixth grade girls.
The school principal should know that Best Friends is not a program for only at-risk girls but for all girls. To begin, the Best Friends program should be provided to an entire class of sixth grade girls as part of their school curriculum. If the class has more than 50 girls, the school principal should designate 20-40 participants who represent a cross-section of school students achievers, average and at-risk girls to participate in the program. Parental permission must be received for a girl to participate in the program.
- Request application information from the Best Friends Foundation. The foundation accepts applications to begin Best Friends programs annually from superintendents of schools and school principals
- Secure funding to support the program. The school district or private school is responsible for securing financial support to operate their Best Friends program. Support may come from many sources: donations from individuals, funds allocated by the local school boards and municipal alliances, grants from private foundations and corporations and State health, education and drug prevention grants. Permission must be received from the Best Friends Foundation before a Best Friends program may be supported by Federal funds.
- Apply to the Best Friends Foundation for permission to operate the program. Please contact the foundation for more information about how and when to apply as a new Best Friends Program.
- Enter into a License and Participation Agreement with the Best Friends Foundation. The Best Friends Foundation grants permission for a school district or private school to operate a Best Friends program through the Best Friends Foundation License and Participation Agreement. The agreement requires that the Best Friends Program be operated according to the program model as specified in the agreement and in curriculum materials published by the Foundation.
Application Information Requirements
Elayne Bennett
Best Friends Foundation
P.O Box 42135
Washington, DC 20015
Phone: 202.394.4501
Fax: 301.907.8894
Posted on August 2, 2016 by BFFAdmin -
Staff
Elayne Bennett
Founder and President
ebennett@bestfriendsfoundation.org
202.394.4501
Elayne Bennett developed the Best Friends program for adolescent girls in 1987 while at the Child Development Center at Georgetown University. Because of its success, teachers and principals urged her to develop a boys program. She launched the Best Men program in 2000. Mrs. Bennett is the President and Founder of the Best Friends Foundation. She is the author of the Best Friends program model and curriculum materials for elementary, middle and high school students and has taught the Foundation’s character education drug, violence and abuse prevention curriculum in 27 DC Public Schools located in Wards 1 – 8. Mrs. Bennett is a spokeswoman on issues of adolescent behavior in the current culture and presents solutions for the improvement of peer interaction and the promotion of positive character development and achievement.
Elayne Bennett has appeared on several national television shows, which showcased the Best Friends and Best Men programs. These programs have served over 5,000 students in DCPS and an additional 3,000 students nationwide. These shows include ABC
Nightline, CBS
The Early Show, PBS
To the Contrary, Fox News
Fox News the The O’Reilly Factor and The Story with Martha MacCallum, ABC
World News Tonight, and NBC
The Today Show. Her speeches and collected writings have contributed to the books Giving Back by Merrill J. Oster and Mike Hamel,
Restoring the Teenage Soul by Margaret Meeker, M.D.,
Building a Healthy Society by Editor Don Eberly, Her Op-Ed
“The Violence in ur Schools Must Stop” was published in LifeZette. She has given testimony on the Best Friends model of positive peer interaction in the prevention of teen pregnancy before the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight in the House of Representatives, the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform and Oversight.
Her Best Friends program research data on the program model in DCPS was accepted for publication by the
Journal for Adolescent and Family Health in April 2005. A study (2010) at Georgetown University on 900 students from DCPS schools demonstrated significant increase in middle and high school students’ willingness to advise their peers to reject risk behaviors of drugs, alcohol, violence and sexual activity. In addition, the study reported decreases in drug and alcohol use, sexual activity and bullying.
Her book
Daughters in Danger: Helping Girls Thrive into Today’s Culture, was published in 2014.
Daughters in Danger has been recommended by educators for parents of adolescents and has received high marks by reviewers and is available at
Amazon.com. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Drop Out Prevention Network.
Elayne Bennett earned her B.A. and M.Ed. from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and completed doctoral course work in statistical analysis and research design at both UNC and University of Maryland, College Park. Mrs. Bennett was honored with the prestigious Jefferson Award for National Public Service, the John Carroll Society Award, the William E. Simon Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship, and the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award. She is a member of the Ethics, Religion, and Public Policy task force of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and served on the Board of Visitors of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the wife of William J. Bennett and the mother of two sons.
Lauren Mauney
Communications Manager & Scholarships Coordinator
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Carson Ries
Finance Director
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D’Angelo Anderson
Outreach & Social Media Consultant
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Robin S. Williams
Musical Production Consultant
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Tommy Taylor Jr.
Production Consultant
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