Roseville High School’s Black Student Union recently expanded their access to a nation-wide level by introducing a new mentorship opportunity.

BSU adviser Keshila Jones developed the idea initially to create a mentorship program for RHS students. She later found herself with the opportunity to bring the idea to life after reaching out to the Kappa Leadership league, an organization with members scattered nation-wide.

Kappa Alpha Psi, a nearby fraternity associated with the League, gave Jones the chance she needed and allowed her to successfully collaborate with the fraternity.

“Kappa Alpha League or Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity have been working with the Roseville Joint Union High School District for the past five years. They were working over at Woodcreek and then

Mr. Borjon of the district office contacted me,” Jones said. “I had wanted to start a mentorship program for students and the leader of the group contacted me and we started going from there.”

The Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, a nationally known African-American Fraternity, focuses on and encourages black male youths to achieve higher goals by mentoring them in certain skills and exposing them to experiences they otherwise might not have had.

They meet every Saturday, their first meeting having taken place at Woodcreek High School, where a majority of their members were located. Due to the recent integration of the fraternity and BSU, future meetings will be held at RHS.

Any student can join the Fraternity as they please.

Senior Michael Speights attended the first meeting, where, according to him, experienced leaders introduced varied college and career choices available to the young men, such as going into the military or becoming a doctor.

“It was cool seeing people in the community and what their careers are,” Speights said. “I’m looking for what to do in college and I think it’s [an effective ] way to look.”

He believes the close- knit atmosphere of the community made the experience personal.

“As opposed to a teacher who has to talk to 30 students, it’s one on one with people who have done a lot of things in their life, and you kinda get to gain knowledge from that,” Speights said.

Junior Caitlin Tran attended the event to take pictures, and although not directly participating, had a positive take away.

“It was kind of like we are going to build a club so you can have people to rely on and you can build these connections with people,” Tran said. “I thought it was really positive and I thought they were really good people for doing that and seeking out certain groups of people because they didn’t have those people growing up.”

Jones is looking for more recruits who would be able to learn from their participation in the mentorship program.

“It teaches students how to be great young men, to grow them into leaders, so they take them on college tours and have adult conversations with them,” Jones said. “Students need role models that look like them so they can relate to them and get that guidance from someone they might not normally get that guidance from.”