Jimmie’s Journey: Around town week of April 21

Jimmie’s Journey takes him to the 2023 Boys’ Empowerment and Leadership Summit.

Jimmie’s Journey: Around town week of April 21
Attendee listening to a discussion during the 2023 Boys’ Empowerment and Leadership Summit

This weekend, I attended the 2023 Boys’ Empowerment and Leadership Summit held at Dekany High School. This is the fifth year for this event and it has continuously grown.

“In the past, we’ve partnered with a neighboring district, but when COVID hit we were forced to change some things,” Dr. Alfred James said. “We tried to do it virtually, but it wasn’t as impactful because you couldn’t feel the energy in the room. When we came back last year it was electrifying. I’ve seen the change and I’ve heard the testimonies from the students.”

James serves as Principal at Wunsche High School in Spring ISD and also serves as chair of the Boys’ Empowerment and Leadership Summit. James understands the importance of boys having other men as positive mentors.

“I remember my assistant principal from high school, Mr. J.B. Williams. He was a well-dressed African American man who always wore three-piece suits. One day I asked him, ‘Why do you always wear those suits?’ And he said, ‘Because when you’re not in school, sometimes you don’t see African American men dressed up.’ He talked about dressing for success and the importance of keeping your grades up and setting yourself apart. That really helped me,” James said.

This year’s summit had over 780 registrants with 300 in attendance. Both middle and high school boys rotated through three sessions dealing with leadership development, college/career readiness and social and emotional support.

“Today, we have over 45 volunteers and professionals who have given up their Saturday to come and speak with our young men. Some work in the Spring district and some work in our surrounding districts,” Spring ISD superintendent Lupita Hinojosa said.

Prairie View A&M University junior Amiri Pettis, who serves as the president of Iota Phi Beta Lambda, feels that it is important for young men to begin building a strong brotherhood.

“It’s very important for me to encourage these young men to find and maintain a healthy, inclusive brotherhood,” Pettis said. “Our motto in the fraternity is building tradition, not resting upon one. That’s one of the most important things I want to continue to push to the youth and throughout my life.”

Executive Director of Family and Community Engagement, Tranita Carroll, was present and able to see the impact of the summit firsthand.

“We had a student who was sitting in one of our bullying sessions and he became very emotional. After seeing this, we had a counselor on hand who was able to pull the student aside and work with him directly. Anything that gets in the way of students being academically successful, we want to address,” Carroll said.

The Boys’ Empowerment and Leadership Summit addressed various topics dealing with social, emotional and academic needs. Cornelius Brown, a 2006 Forest Brook graduate, led a session entitled “Creating a Program.”

“It’s having a vision for yourself and creating a program to get to it. It’s important to have a pursuit, purpose and a plan while being willing to do the process,” Brown said.

Brown informed the students that after he graduated from Forest Brook High School he went on to the University of Texas at El Paso. After graduation, he went to the NFL as an undrafted free agent to the Chicago Bears, but would play his first years with the Indianapolis Colts and later the San Diego Chargers, before leaving the NFL and starting his own business, SkyB Nation.

Michael Jennings led a session entitled, “Are you a leader or a follower?” This session forced the students to look within themselves. Jennings, a Third Ward native, recalled when he was a student and how impactful it would have been to have more men who looked like him encourage him to be a leader.

“I needed to be here because I was sitting in a classroom that needed somebody to come and speak to me. I received it from a teacher, Miss Sexton. She said, ‘I saw that you were an intelligent kid that needed to be challenged, and I recommended you to go to a magnet school (Lamar) because I saw that in you.’ But to see somebody (male) that looked like me, that would’ve come and stood in front of a classroom to talk to me personally, it would’ve been a huge influence at that point in my life. Today, it was my responsibility to come and speak to kids that looked like me,” Jennings said.

Dallas Malveaux, a sixth grader at Bammel Middle School in Spring ISD, with dreams of becoming an NBA player or serving in the United States Navy, attended Jenning’s session and feels he was able to walk away with some helpful tools.

“We learned that people take different paths, and if you have real friends they will come back and get you and show you the right path,” Malveaux said.

Spring ISD also held a Girls’ Empowerment and Leadership Youth Summit in March, where 350 young women came to discuss topics to help build their social and emotional learning.

“It’s important that they know we are investing in them because they are our future. If we can do right by these young men and women, not only providing them with the best quality education, but the best guidance and advice, they will be our future leaders,” Hinojosa said.

Anyone interested in serving in the next leadership summit can send an email to community@springisd.org.