Love & Honor
Full-time mentors guide Cape Area students toward the best versions of themselves
Inside a middle-school classroom, a small group of boys face what might be their most daunting challenge yet: the Half-Windsor. Four young professionals patiently coach the fumbling boys through the gentlemanly ritual. By the end of the period, faces beam with pride when their mentors compliment them on properly tied knots and appropriate lengths. That display of confidence and self-esteem is a perfect example of the difference made by the one-on-one mentorship programs at Cape Girardeau Public Schools, the Honorable Young Men Club and Tiger Lilies.
What began two years ago as a volunteer project for four Southeast Missouri State University graduates — Kweku Arkorful, Aaron Adeoye, Wyky Jean and Cantrell Andrews — has grown into their full-time work as youth mentors for at-risk students.
“After one semester, the data came back saying suspensions went down, attendance went up, and GPA went up as well,” says Arkorful. When the school approached them about leading HYMC full-time, he says they promptly quit their jobs.
Supported by the Cape Girardeau Public Schools Foundation, a component of the Cape Area Community Foundation, HYMC is now at capacity with 190 students. After the program missed the top regional prize for the CFO’s 45 Second Video Challenge, school board member Jared Ritter launched a crowdfunding campaign that ultimately raised more than $14,000. HYMC also received a $1,000 runner-up prize from the CFO.
“We say ‘I love you, bro,’ from the beginning. And they’re like ‘Who is this guy? How is he going to say he loves me?’”
— Kweku Arkorful, Honorable Young Men Club
The program provides students not only with strong male role models, but also values, accountability and genuine love.
“We say ‘I love you, bro,’ from the beginning. And they’re like ‘Who is this guy? How is he going to say he loves me?’ Because they basically don’t have male role models that are telling them that,” says Arkorful. “It just took us being genuine, showing them we care and showing them some love.”
After seeing the boys’ success, Central Middle School staff established the Tiger Lilies program to mentor about 80 girls with support from the school foundation.
“Our goal is to empower young women to be the best versions of themselves,” says school counselor Becky Wright, who hopes to continue raising money to hire a full-time mentor. After seeing vast improvements in the girls after a single year, Wright says, “I truly believe this is the missing piece for public education.”
This story was originally published in the CFO’s Annual Report FY2018. You can read the full publication here.
