In EDUC 225, students will examine the social, cultural, and emotional experiences of Black and Latinx youth, the unique challenges they face within urban and segregated schools, and the relationships, cultural assets, and psychological mindsets that help them thrive despite marginalization. EDUC 225 is a hybrid course that includes both a seminar and a fieldwork component. The seminar will include course readings, analysis, and discussions on the above issues. In the fieldwork component, students, equipped with the knowledge and skills from the seminar, will serve as mentors for Black and Latinx adolescent boys at a local middle school to co-construct and implement character development curriculum (i.e. THREADS) that affirms the adolescent mentees and reinforces them with strategies to navigate the rigors of their learning environment and social community. Working together as allies, the student-mentors, and the mentee-boys will strategize culturally sustaining mentoring to work towards developing positive future goals, socio-emotional behaviors, and healthy racial-ethnic identities.