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EDUCATION
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CHAM PJO M
April 14- 20, 2016 » Page 18A
ManMade Mentoring impacts Stephenson Middle School
Author and speaker John Dennis met with students, faculty and staff at Stephenson Middle School to describe his ManMade
Mentoring program, which prompted 22 students to clean four bathrooms at the DeKalb school.
'This is the first oi many efforts
by these youny men to improve
themselves and the area around them.'
-John Dennis
by R. Scott Belzer
sbelzer@dekalbchamp.com
For five hours on March 19, a
group of 22 Stephenson Middle
School boys received a lesson in
manhood.
As part of author John Dennis’
pilot ManMade Mentoring Program,
the group scrubbed, scraped,
washed, mopped and swept
four Stephenson Middle School
bathrooms. The 22 middle school
students were joined by Dennis and
six mentors in the cleanup effort.
“This is the first of many efforts
by these young men to improve
themselves and the area around
them,” said Dennis. “All of the boys
stayed from start to finish. Space
was tight, but some guys even
asked for more work to do.”
Dennis said the 22 students
cleaned, stripped and scraped
away paint chips before painting
over vulgar drawings and language
lining the bathroom walls. The
students then took a pledge to
serve as bathroom monitors to
ensure such graffiti is never on
walls of the school latrines again.
“These young men are
entertaining the idea they are the
ones responsible for change,”
Dennis said. “[Principal Carolyn
Williams] came back with rewards
for the boys, but I know the internal
rewards were far better for them.”
Such initiative stems from
Dennis’s pilot mentoring program,
ManMade Mentoring, in which 524
Stephenson Middle School boys
were talked to in a group setting,
put into 12 separate focus groups
and asked what changes they
would like to see in school.
“A lot of the major complaints
included the bathrooms,” Dennis
said. “A lot of students and teachers
said other boys were destroying the
bathrooms. Either way, I wanted
to stress that casting blame never
solves anything; it only matters who
is going to take responsibility.”
Dennis said ManMade
Mentoring seeks to tackle the
issue of single-parent families
with little to no male influence.
The Eatonton, Ga., native and
author of Men Raised by Women
has been looking for avenues to
share his work and message since
December 2015, eventually finding
success at Stephenson Middle.
“From my research, 75 percent
of [Black] children are growing
up in single-parent households,”
Dennis said. “When I asked the 524
[Stephenson Middle] students how
many of them lived in single parent
households, 80 to 85 percent of
them raised their hands.”
According to Dennis,
mentoring can instill values such
as self-respect, responsibility
and accountability in young men.
He said ManMade Mentoring
is one third journaling, one
third goal setting, and one third
measurements. Students journal
their own definitions and opinions
on certain terms, share them with
relevant adults in their life such
as a parent or teacher, and create
goals surrounding them.
The Georgia author,
businessman and Air Force
veteran said the workbook
accompanying his program is
something that can serve as a
lifetime reference tool.
“This is a developmental
mission, not just a one-time
thing,” Dennis said. “You have
some young guys dealing with
very difficult home lives and that
requires a lot of mentor interaction.
It’s going to stir up some things, but
they need to be stirred up. A lot of
help is needed in a lot of homes.”
Dennis said it takes two
sessions to fully explain the
program to potential mentors.
From there, they work through
a book to learn how to make a
positive impact. The author’s goal
is to train 40-50 mentors in four
more DeKalb County schools to
make the most impact in DeKalb
County youth.
“We’re focusing on middle
school students first,” Dennis
said. “Young men going through
puberty are much more apt to join
with someone in order to form
an identity. By the time students
reach high school, it’s kind of
after the fact; they’re treated as
adults, some of them have criminal
backgrounds, and a lot of their
forming has already taken place.
We’re trying to reach them before.”
The author said the three-
year program, if applied to at
least 524 students, will help
transform whichever high school is
attended and work its way into the
community.
Dennis explained his
expertise comes from a lifetime
of mentoring. He mentored, and
was mentored, during 10 years
of service in the United States Air
Force; he mentored at his church;
he mentored in prisons and work
release programs. However,
Dennis states the majority of his
expertise stems from his own
single parent childhood.
“I was in the same lane as all
these young men,” Dennis said.
“I grew up with a lot of distance
from my father. I was a straight ‘A’
student; I walked the good line, but
I struggled significantly. I lacked
masculine skills. I was a good
kid, and the good kid often gets
neglected, as energy is put into
reforming other kids.”
Dennis said the difference
between his advice and advice
written by other professionals,
preachers, gurus and leaders is
simple.
“You can find single parent
help books and programs written
by all types,” Dennis said. “But
you can’t find one written by the
affected boy.”
For more information on Dennis
and the ManMade Mentoring
Program, visit www.johnpdennis.
com