by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
It will be several weeks until the exact route of The Jacksonville Journey is finally drawn on the map, but one thing is becoming clear: the concept of mentoring will be along every step of the way.
Two of the subcommittees charged with developing the strategies that will guide Mayor John Peyton’s initiative to quell violent crime in the community met Wednesday and the top topic of discussion was the value of positive interaction between a caring adult and a young person.
Wally Lee, president of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, appeared before the Positive Youth development subcommittee and said the organization was ready and willing to participate in developing mentorship in the business community.
“We have about 70 people on staff at the Chamber and 20 are involved in mentoring in the public schools,” he said.
Lee pointed out the Chamber is no stranger to supporting mentoring programs and, in fact, had a system in place that began in 2001. The plan faltered a few years ago, said Lee, when the school system stopped supporting it. He said he believes new Duval County School Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals is going to refocus the schools on mentoring and the Chamber is ready to get back on board.
“With the support of the school system, mentoring could be a highly effective strategy,” said Lee.
He also said he is confident the business community would support the effort if it is also supported by the school system and added, “anything is possible when you have a bunch of committed people, and we can shame people into getting involved if we have to.”
Lee also told the subcommittee that the Chamber supports Duval County’s Career Academies and businesses are providing funding, in some cases as much as $200,000, to support programs in the areas of technology, health care and finance.
“We believe career academies are a significant step toward creating a qualified work force. The idea is to get kids ready to enter the world of work or ready for post-secondary education then enter the world of work,” said Lee. “Students who graduate from career academies tend to go to college at a higher rate. They perform better in college and drop out less.”
The subcommittee also heard from a panel of high school and college students who shared insight into what youth believe can help reduce violence. When asked if any of them had committed a crime, all replied in the negative. When asked why not, all said they want to make their parents proud, or at least not disappoint them.
They were unanimous in their conviction that for youth who lack a stable family environment, communication and positive interaction with adults is critical.
Subcommittee member Eddie Diamond pointed out the young people on the panel differed from youth in the troubled neighborhoods in that, “they have the advantage of knowing they have substance,” he said. “They know they have a mind, a heart and a soul. That’s like a shield that other youth don’t have.”
Chris Wood, a senior at Stanton College Preparatory and a subcommittee member summed up the discussion and said, “We have to figure out ways to reach out to those who have not been blessed with families.”
Mentoring was also the main item on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of the Public Relations subcommittee.
Cynthia Harpman, executive director of Kessler Mentoring Connection, gave the members an overview of mentoring as a concept and an update on its current status in North Florida. She said her organization set a new record last year by screening and training more than 1,500 new mentors, almost double the number in years past. There are now about 2,800 mentors in North Florida and 95 percent serve youth in the community.
Harpman said one way the business community can help create more mentors is by offering employees one hour per week to mentor a young person. She also said many people have the false perception that mentoring is difficult and requires special skills.
“It’s an awareness problem,” said Harpman. “You don’t have to be the mayor to be a mentor. Anyone can do it.”
As an action item, the subcommittee approved release of a new advertising campaign that will appear inside JTA’s fleet of buses. A series of four 10-second messages produced by subcommittee member Ben Frazier will be appearing on the digital message screens and over the sound systems on all 174 buses in the fleet beginning Feb. 25.
Of the users of public transportation in Jacksonville, Frazier said, “these are the people who know the victims and know the perpetrators of crime. They read the stories in the newspaper while they’re riding the bus and they talk about it.”
Themes that will be heard during 2 million passenger trips between now and April include: “Working together we can stop the violence”; “Jacksonville, a lot of good people live here”; “Life is precious and peace begins with you”; and “Respect – earn it and learn it.”