Honorable Young Men impress lawmakers

The Honorable Young Men Club lived up to its name Friday, hosting regional politicians and members of the Legislature's black caucus with eye contact, respect and firm handshakes.

"Soft skills," said Wyky Jean, co-founder of the mentorship program, while watching the boys mingle with the politicians at Cape Central High School. "We work on those a lot, and they're doing great. Proud of them."

Jean and co-founders Kweku Arkorful, Cantrell Andrews and Aaron Adeoye (who is currently on hiatus from HYMC to play football for the Baltimore Ravens) had plenty to be proud of, considering those soft skills are backed up by hard data illustrating the group's success in preparing the young men for adulthood. As the co-founders explained to those in attendance, for students involved with the HYMC, attendance rates are up, suspension rates down, and students are routinely cited for positive behavior. Andrews recalled the program's start roughly three years ago -- and when the founders knew the program was working.

"We were going in there 45 minutes, one day a week mentoring these kids for, I wanna say seven months," he said. "By the end of that year ISS (in-school suspension) had went down. OSS (out-of-school suspension) had went down. They're grades rose, and they're attendance rose during that time. So that folowing year we went from 35 kids to 185 kids."

The growth of the program was, in fact, so rapid, the founders explained, results began to dip. After auditing the program, they said it became clear one-on-one relationships are key to success; so much so the program now has a limited number of members and a waiting list. Andrews said that's the hardest part of his involvement in the program: turning students away.

Honorable Young Men Club member Demarius Mathies, center left, talks with state Rep. Wiley Price, seated, while former Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, far left, talks with Glen Nesby, far right, during a visit from regional politicians and members of the Legislature's black caucus Friday, Oct. 25, 2019, at Cape Girardeau Central High School.TYLER GRAEF

But a core tenant of the HYMC ethos is dictates there are no weaknesses -- only undeveloped strengths, and as such, Jean said he and his co-founders are committed to expanding the program.

Cape Girardeau superintendent Dr. Neil Glass urged the lawmakers to consider ways to replicate aspects of the program elsewhere.

"I can't say enough about these guys," Glass said. "They have totally transformed so many students' lives that I know of in particular."

The visit, organized by former Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, may not have resulted in concrete plans to replicate the HYMC program elsewhere, but the lawmakers praised the program.

"I'm impressed by the program," said state Rep. Kevin Windham of St. Louis, who while attending Southeast Missouri State University was a friend to several of the HYMC founders.

Windham said the growth apparent in the way the student members carried themselves was striking.

When he later asked a group of student members what value they derived from the program, they cited self-control as their most important takeaway.

"Before I got into the program, I was fighting and being disrespectful and now I'm not doing that," club member Glen Nesby told Windham.

"They teach you to have a different mindset of how you react to things," Demarius Mathies added.

Another lawmaker, Wiley Price of Missouri's 84th district in St. Louis, praised the HYMC's one-on-one approach and said he tries to employ a similar one when offering advice to young people. After socializing, the lawmakers headed out, first to lunch, and then to tour the junior high school and middle school to hear more testimonials.

"I'm looking to dive deeper into some of the logistics of the program," Windham said. "I think before we talk about replication we need to talk about some of the background, which can be more important. Things like funding and such."