Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Their guiding hands

A program that matches mentors with boys gathers to celebrate its success.

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published April 5, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - Demetrius Lynn was 10 when he got his first shot at salvation.

He was a fifth-grader at Azalea Elementary School when a friend invited him to join a program that teams black male students with African-American role models. Demetrius liked the field trips, but he wasn't ready to respect others and get good grades.

So he dropped out.

He got a second opportunity two years ago when he was a sophomore at Dixie Hollins High School. By that time, he was failing most of his classes. He'd racked up 49 referrals in 10 months. Worse, he had started hanging around with a rough crowd and had been arrested for breaking and entering.

He decided to give the program another try.

On Wednesday, Demetrius, now 18, took his place alongside 600 other students who celebrated their brotherhood in the 5000 Role Models of Excellence program at the Palladium Theater.

"This program has changed my life," Demetrius said from his seat at the front of the auditorium. "If it hadn't been for Role Models, I wouldn't be graduating. I'd probably be in jail."

State Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, founded the Role Models program in Miami-Dade County in 1993. Originally called the 500 Role Models of Excellence, the name was changed a year ago to reflect the program's expansion to Jacksonville and New York City.

The program's mission is to intervene in the lives of black male students, who historically are more likely to be suspended and to drop out of school.

The best way to keep them on track is to match them with strong adult role models, said W.J. Bryant, who coordinates the program in Pinellas.

"Role Models is not necessarily focused on academics," Bryant said. "It's geared toward developing self-esteem and self-worth of our young men. We believe that if a child feels good about himself and knows where he's going in life, the rest will take care of itself."

More than 700 Pinellas County children in grades 3-12 have been matched with mentors since former school administrator Vyrle Davis brought the program here in 1995. Students and role models meet twice a month at 40 schools throughout the district and talk about mutual respect, goal setting and combating peer pressure.

Coordinated through the district's office of family and community relations, the program is credited with helping reduce the number of children who skip school and use drugs, Bryant said.

An important part of Wednesday's gathering was something Bryant called "the tie-tying ceremony."

Each student who came through the door received a red silk tie imprinted with a series of large hands reaching out to smaller hands.

The children's mentors explained to them that at this point in their lives, they are the little hands. Someday, when they're old enough to become mentors themselves, they'll become the big hands.

Remembering to give back was the message of a keynote address given by John Threes, an 18-year-old Osceola High School senior who has been in the Role Models program since the seventh grade.

"When you get where you're going, don't ever forget where you came from," said Threes, who serves as an associate pastor at New Hope Baptist Church. "Encourage instead of discourage, help each other, and share your experience."

Jared Davis, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle School, listened closely. Jared, who is new this year to Role Models, said he's begun helping out more at home since he was paired with a mentor.

"I've learned that you have to behave, and that you always have to look your best," he said.

His friend Joshua Cates, 13, said his mentor has taught him "You can't judge people by their cover."

The two friends shouted out the words of the Role Models pledge as they were formally inducted into the program:

"I pledge to be the best me that I can be, to demonstrate integrity in all that I do, to treat others with respect and to remember always that I must respect myself first."

Once kids believe that in their hearts, Bryant said, there's no telling how far they can go.

Fast Facts:

How to help

The 5000 Role Models of Excellence program is seeking African-American men to mentor black male students in Pinellas County schools. Call W.J. Bryant, (727) 538-7167, ext. 2154.

[Last modified April 5, 2007, 01:24:14]