The Little Men Of Carstens

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

It is a fact, many Metro Detroit area children are at risk when it comes to poor lifestyle decisions, drugs, crime and just a general lack of direction.

There isn’t a program in existence that can help them all, but at Carstens, they’re focusing on at risk boys, trying help them find a path through life that they can truly live with. Fourth grade teacher Christopher Gibson created a program called Pioneers for Success. It is structured to help boys in grades 3 to 5 by teaching them about other life choices, improving their self esteem, building character and confidence, and helping them improve their behavior and attitude, to hopefully grow up to be responsible, respectful and successful men. By doing so, the program can also have a positive effect on their classroom progress which Mr. Gibson tracks by talking to the boys’ teachers. About 30 boys are in the Pioneers for Success program from October to May. They are selected by teachers who feel they need what the project has to offer. In the one-hour, bi-weekly sessions, the boys complete worksheets that help them learn more about themselves, and reveal what they know about some of the ills of society such as drugs. They also take part in role-playing to better understand some of the issues they discuss. Detroit Police Officer David Wheeler and motivational speaker, E. Sean Miles round out the mentoring trio which mixes learning with compassion and on occasion, they get a lesson from their students. Sometimes the boys want to discuss problems they face at home and will ask their mentors how they would handle them, or they’ll just ask questions about the lives their mentors lead. Major steps toward positive changes. If you are interested in the Pioneers for Success program, call 852-8070, ext. 223.