The Other Wes Moore Case Study

Knock Knock According to Milton Berle, “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door,” (Berle). As a college student, I agree with Berle, we can help create opportunity for ourselves and others. Recently, I finished the book “The Other Wes Moore” based on the lives of two individuals with the same name, Wes Moore, from Baltimore, Maryland. One Wes is sentenced in jail for the rest of his life, and the other Wes is a college graduate, an author, a husband, and a public speaker. The author Wes Moore claims “The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his,” (Moore). Once I read this I wanted to seek out an organization that is “building a door” for opportunity for high school students.

First the ACE Mentor Program’s roots actually started in New York City where they developed the idea for this program, and started the fundraising for scholarships in 1995. According to their website, “ACE is a not-for-profit organization, formed under Section 501(c)3 of the District of Columbia in 2002,” (History). Today ACE, which stands for “Architecture Construction and Engineering,” consists of volunteers who work after school as a design and construction team to teach and mentor high school students to create and build ideas for construction projects. In the ACE Mentor Program there are affiliates to different regions or areas. The website states, “Each affiliate has a board of directors, a local coordinator, and a number of teams,” (About Us). The teams of about 15 to 20 students meet in about 15 sessions after school to either go on field trips to experience construction in the real world, or work and design for the end of the year Presentation to their region. To meet the expectations for the presentation night it takes hard work and dedication to learn architectural, construction, and engineering skills as a team. Right now, the ACE Mentor Program has 30,500 students participating and is still growing. The history of ACE starts from New York but is venturing across the

Online ACE states, “Our mission is to engage, excite and enlighten high school students to pursue careers in architecture, engineering, and construction through mentoring and to support their continued advancement in the industry.” I believe ACE goes beyond helping students with their future careers in architecture, engineering, and construction. After reading their website I think their primary mission is to help students find a purpose and be held accountable by their mentors. This program creates a system for students to work as a team and strive for accomplishment through their final construction project and achievements, not necessarily just for career advancement, but for a step in the right direction and hands-on education. The overall mission of the ACE Mentor Program is to help students find a purpose through working on a team and being held accountable by their