Mentoring meeting at Huntington Middle School uplifting

Last month, I was invited to attend a weekly mentoring meeting at Huntington Middle School. I get invited to a lot of events, but this one was one of the best I have ever attended, which is a little odd since I was the only girl in the room and sat in the corner most of the morning. But having the opportunity to be a fly on the wall, so to speak, while watching men and boys interact in a healthy and positive way, sharing experiences and learning from them did more than lift my spirits.

After the events in Paris, it renewed my faith in others.

The Omega Gamma Gamma Chapter of Omega Psi Phi adopted Huntington Middle School this year, and the mentoring group is just one of the things that Omega Psi Phi has committed to at the school. About 14 boys attend the mentoring group.

"We are still in the initial stage, building a foundation with them," Fredrick Sterdivant, one of the Omega Psi Phi members, said. "Our goal right now is to communicate with them, let them see people that look like them and have had young lives similar to theirs."

Sterdivant said the goal of the mentoring program was to work on several things, the impact of life choices and the importance of education and goal setting.

"We talk about something, like bullying or peer pressure and then a couple of weeks later we revisit it, see how they are implementing it in their lives. We want them to make good choices and put a plan together for their lives. Eventually, we want them to have a brotherhood with each other like we do."

Shaquez Head, a seventh-grader at Huntington Middle School, said that the mentoring on Wednesday mornings is where "we learn about life."

"Things happen when you hang out with the wrong people," Shaquez said.

"We talk about honesty and having responsibility. If my friends are doing something wrong, I don't have to follow them. I do what I want to do, not what they want me to do," said Immanuel Hudson, also a seventh-grader.

Gwen Taylor, principal of Huntington Middle, said she was very grateful for the men of Omega Psi Phi.

"They are giving up their time to be here and to mentor our students. We are very thankful for them," Taylor said.

The men from Omega Psi Phi who spoke didn't just speak. They interacted with the boys and asked questions and didn't just lecture, and they were very honest about their own lives.

"I had a 16-year-old mother and a father in jail, but none of that matters. God gave me opportunities and by God's grace I got an education. Education cannot be taken away from you," Jeff Washington, vice principal at Veterans High School, said. "Life is a game of chess, not checkers. When you make decisions that can impact you six months, years down the road, that's chess."

Eddie Sanders, who grew up in the projects referred to as Vickie Lynn, said that it was a teacher named Ed Dyson who inspired him.

"He was always telling me to tuck in my shirt, comb my hair, I didn't even think he liked me. Then one day he told me I was one of the best math students he had ever taught," Dyson said.

"I thought to myself, "This guy really likes me and I want to show him how good I can do."

Dyson graduated with honors from Northside High School before going on to college and a career in computer software.

The questions the boys had and the stories they shared are not for you the readers -- as I said I was a fly on the wall. I will say this, however, while they made my heart break a little, I laughed a few times as well. The feeling I had when I left was that the world was going to be OK as long as the men of Omega Psi Phi are on the job.

This story was originally published December 1, 2015 at 6:45 PM with the headline "Mentoring meeting at Huntington Middle School uplifting ."