An annual beautillion being held this weekend is rapidly becoming a rite of passage for young men in Bermuda.

The Alpha Beautillion is organised by the Bermuda Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity through their Rites of Passage programme designed to help young men in the community mature and become well rounded.

This year’s beaus, as participants are called, include Khaleb Tota, 16, from Warwick Academy, Torian Hill, 17, from Bermuda Institute, Zachary Kawaley-Lathan, 17, from Saltus, Ryan Robinson Perinchief, 16, Berkeley Institute, and Caleb Darrell 17, from CedarBridge Academy.

They were chosen by their peers and staff at their respective schools.

“My counsellor told me that there were two types of people who do the programme,” said Mr Robinson Perinchief, “those who excel in their classes and are overall good students, and those who could benefit from the programme and could gain skills from this. I was chosen by my school based on that criteria. I guess I fall into both categories.”

Mr Hill said he was inspired to join by his brother who took part last year. He said: “I knew what I was getting myself into.”

Mr Kawaley-Lathan also heard about the programme through a family member. He said: “My cousin in the year above me was telling me about it because he helped to elect me for the programme. I was really excited to be picked out of all the students who were eligible in my year.”

The Rites of Passage programme lasted six months and consisted of volunteer work at Matilda Smith Williams Seniors Residence and mentoring young people in the Math Attack education programme at Dellwood Middle School. They also took part in personal and professional development workshops led by members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the Toastmasters Bermuda public speaking club, the Digicel human resource department and other business professionals.

Mr Robinson Perinchief said the most challenging part of the programme was learning how to better manage his time. Between practices, sessions and workshops, balancing his workload at school made it a very busy six month period.

Mr Kawaley-Lathan said he is typically very unorganised, but he has had to learn to be more efficient. He had to make sacrifices in order to prioritise his beautillion commitments.

Mr Tota said the programme helped him to become more responsible.

At the beautillion the young men will perform a talent, complete a step performance together, and will give a five-minute speech on the topic of gaming in Bermuda. At the end of the event, the beaus will be scored on their overall performance. The winner will receive a $5,000 bursary, second place will receive a $3,000 bursary, third place will receive a $2,000 bursary, and all other participants will receive $1,000 bursaries.

The general feeling among the beaus was that winning would be a great accomplishment and show that all their hard work had paid off.

“You were selected by your school so you want to give it your all. You were chosen by someone who sees potential in you so to win would be something great,” Mr Hill said.

After the beautillion students will be taken to a leadership development institute at the Long Island University in New York.

Matthew Sinclair, beautillion organiser and member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, said he hoped the young people would benefit in the same way he did when he was the first male high school student from Mount Saint Agnes Academy to participant in the Alpha Beautillion several years ago. He said: “For me, it was all about the importance of being involved in the community. So before then I wasn’t really involved in community service or engaged in the community as much, so that was an important element.”

Mr Sinclair said he enjoyed the beautillion, as a youngster, because it exposed him to a group of men he didn’t know existed.

“I was really impressed by how involved they were in the community,” he said. “They weren’t really outspoken about what they did, but they were a group of men who strove towards excellence.”

The Alpha Beautillion will take place on June 8 at 5.30pm at the Ruth Seaton James Auditorium. Doors open at 5pm. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased from the People’s Pharmacy or by e-mailing beautillion@bermudaalpha.bm.