ECC launches mentor program for minority youth

Lester Reed hung out in a corner of the end zone as his mentor prepared to launch a football and the other children positioned themselves for the long pass.

Lester caught the pass with only a modicum of effort, then strutted proudly across the woodchip-filled playground of Perry Elementary School to line up for the next play.

To a casual observer, the scene didn't look much different from a typical recess at the Carpentersville school. But the lessons Lester and his classmates have been learning are much more important than football.

Lester is one of almost a dozen students at Perry who are participating in "Men Inc." - a mentoring program that pairs black male students at Elgin Community College with black male students at two Carpentersville schools (the other is Lakewood School).

The program aims to provide positive male role models for young boys who may not have many in their lives and to instill in them a desire to go to college and a belief that that goal is attainable.

"There's a lot of children that have no father in their lives," said Muheez Badmus of Algonquin, one of the ECC students who visited Perry on Thursday. "It's important that they have role models so they don't end up in the wrong place."

The program is funded by a one-time grant from ECC for new initiatives. About 25-30 ECC students are enrolled in a class that teaches life skills such as time management. Later, educators at the college decided to add a volunteering component - which planted the seed of Men Inc.

"You see the achievement gaps," said Jason Lentz, assistant principal at Perry. "If we don't take the initiative to bridge that gap, things aren't going to get better."

The mentoring program is ending this year, but organizers of the initiative hope to expand next year to serve more students, including Hispanic students and kids at other Carpentersville-area schools.

"The funding for this will not continue, but we'll be looking outside to fund it," said DeSean Coleman, assistant director of Upward Bound, a federally funded program at ECC that focuses on underprivileged youth.

As for Lester, a 10-year-old in the fourth grade, he seems to be taking his mentors' lessons to heart.

"Take care of the people who take care of you," Lester said, echoing his mentors. "Don't drop out of school. ... If you do all that, you can be in their place."