Howard University students spend Spring Break helping Flint kids  

(FLINT, Mich., March 6, 2025) — Howard University students have been in Flint this week (March 3-7) on an alternate Spring Break service trip. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Howard University students coming to the city to serve Flint school children.

“The original motivation for Howard University’s presence in Flint was to support Flint kids and families during the initial response to the Flint Water Crisis, as well as to equip youth with an HBCU experience in college readiness, social justice and mentorship,” said Mohammed Aboutawila, Implementation and Partnership Consultant for the Flint Center for Educational Excellence (Flint Center).

Aboutawila and Marlando Wade, director of Thrive Afterschool for the Flint Center, initiated the partnership with Howard University in 2015. The continuous partnership engagement is part of the Flint Center’s Community Education Initiative.

“Their continued commitment to serving our Flint schools community is an encouraging sign that these young adults are invested in supporting Flint kids and focused on positively impacting the city of Flint,” said Aboutawila. “They are reaching in to uplift the next generation of future leaders.”

The college students spent their days at six schools in the city of Flint giving classroom presentations on social justice and participating in panel discussions about college readiness and the HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) experience. They also provide character education and mentoring, perform school beautification projects and assist in classroom space, community education and after-school office spaces and the school food pantry. They also volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club after school program.

In a session on social justice at Southwestern High School March 6, five Howard University students shared information about the history of social justice activism by Howard students from the American civil rights movement in the 1960s to more recent protests about student housing. They encouraged Southwestern students to advocate for issues they felt passionate about, which generated a conversation about how to advocate for change to a policy prohibiting cell phones at school. High school students shared their efforts to appeal to the Flint Board of Education, and the Howard students offered advice on how to frame their advocacy and work toward compromise.

A group of Howard students working on an esteem building project for the high school students said they felt their time in Flint was well-spent.

“Some of the students we talked to had not really thought about college as an option,” said one young woman.

She added: “We were able to open that conversation and share our experiences.”

Participating schools include the Accelerated Learning Academy, Brownell STEM Academy, Doyle Ryder Elementary, Holmes STEM Academy, International Academy of Flint and Southwestern Classical Academy.

The Community Education Initiative works to transform Flint-area schools into collaborative hubs where students, parents, educators and community members work together to ensure Flint kids thrive. Through integrated student support services, community education supports improvements in attendance, behavior, social well-being and academic achievement.

The Flint Center for Educational Excellence is building an educational ecosystem that works for all Flint kids by providing programs, research and advocacy that ensure Flint kids, their families, schools and communities thrive. This is accomplished through a cross-sector partnership that creates a cradle-to-career support network connecting people, ideas and resources in tangible ways that strengthen our community through the power of collaboration. To learn more about the The Flint Center, visit theflintcenter.org.