DALLAS — Creativity helps drive any message home. Wilmer-Hutchins High School senior, Brayden Brown, has been getting a message that grows him every day.
“I’m a scholar athlete here at Wilmer-Hutchins,” said Brown. He is valedictorian of his class and a member of the Esquire club, an afterschool program.
“An esquire in history is like a nobleman who actually takes after a knight,” said Brown.
His teacher and coach, Antonio Mauldin, started the club last semester and encouraged Brown to join.
“Initially, Brayden was kind of more on the quiet side,” said Mauldin.
However, in this club, Brown is the total opposite.
“In this club, no one is scared to speak up and say that they don’t know anything,” said Brown. “He’s been teaching us useful life skills that young men should know all for the rest of their lives.”
The young men learn skills such as tying a tie, how to interview, resume-writing, and on some days vehicle maintenance.
“Learning to be patient with them and watch them grow. I may not be able to see the overall growth, but if I’m planting the seeds for them today, I know that 10 years from now, they’ll become much better young men,” said Mauldin.
Since its start last semester, the Esquire Club has almost doubled, going from 18 students to about 35.
“We are one of the most, if not, the most impoverished areas in the southern sector of Dallas,” said Mauldin. “They have to be able to look at themselves in the mirror when they wake up and understand that this may be where I am today; however, they can change their tomorrow.”
That confidence is what the students wear proudly.
"I feel like I just see the progress. I just know that God has a plan. When I see that good that comes from me being involved in all these things like me being valedictorian, it makes me want to keep going and encouraged to try new things,” said Brown. “It makes us feel more poised and more distinguished.”
That is a message Brayden will carry with him and share with others.