A bit of good news this week.
Few schools in North Texas have had a more difficult time educating kids than Billy Earle Dade Middle in the heart of south Dallas.
The age of the building has nothing to do with it. Dade Middle is less than 5 years old.
Academic performance has been affected by other issues such as high staff and administrator turnover.
However, current students and staff have worked hard lately and shown some real improvement.
What’s still been missing, many believed was community support -- mentors to encourage students in and out of the classroom.
So, a week ago, the call went out for male volunteers to attend a “Breakfast with Dads” and show support for students who might not have a father at home. They were hoping to get at least 50.
Well, they didn’t get 50. They got 500.
Five hundred real men who showed up to let students know there are people who really do care about them and their school. Men to say to them: whatever your struggle, it is not your alone. Men who, hopefully in the coming weeks, will share the obstacles they overcame, to function with success today.
Too often, we men are missing in the lives of young people, missing in providing young people the one thing they really need, not advice but examples. Examples of men committed to their jobs, their homes to making the world around them a better place.
Men like the 500 mentors who showed up this week at Billy Earle Dade Middle.