About

What is the "Aiming for the Stars" Competition?

The African American Male Academic Bowl "Aiming for the Stars" Competition originated as a joint venture between Dimension U, Comets, Project Still I Rise, Inc. and the University of Texas at Dallas and other community partners to engage African American boys in an all-out, dynamic academic competition.

Each year through the African American Male Academic Bowl "Aiming for the Stars" Competition, we hope to:

• Promote academic achievement among African American males.
• Encourage African American youth to continue to excel in their educational endeavors.
• Encourage teamwork, peer mentoring, accountability, and learning through academic competitive measures among African American male youth and adult mentors.
• Increase male mentoring relationships with young African American males inside and outside the classroom environment.
• Counteract the negative images of African American male youth in all aspects of the media.
• Impact time learning outside of school for African American males from underrepresented communities.

Since its inception, this annual event has included hundreds of participating boys that not only represent North Texas middle schools, but also numerous local community groups, faith-based organizations, and greek-lettered auxiliary young groups. With the support and partnerships of local businesses, each year our academic champions and their team coaches are awarded featured prizes.

This year's "Aiming for the Stars" Competition will offer young men from 6th to 8th grade the opportunity to compete in a team-based competition. The teams will earn collective points by participating in the following competition components - jeopardy-style academic quiz bowl, MathCounts™.

Each competition component is outlined thoroughly in information packet sent electronically all to participants. the packet will model a scoring rubrics to our registered teams and coaches.