Mentoring in Midlothian changes high school students’ lives

MIDLOTHIAN—Crystal, a high school senior trying to juggle classes and living on her own since she was 15, was exhausted from working late hours at a fast-food restaurant and was ready to drop of school until an adult mentor came her way.  

In August 2009, Crystal agreed to participate in Movement Towards a Future, a mentoring program at Midlothian High School. The initiative was started through First Baptist Church and a partnership with Texas Baptists made possible through the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions.

The program enlisted adults from eight Midlothian churches to spend one hour a week with students at risk of not completing high school, encouraging them toward graduation, holding them accountable for grades and helping them dream about their future and see their potential.

Crystal was paired with Pam Poole, a member at First Baptist Church. At their first meeting, Poole discovered they shared a distant relative, a connection that put Crystal at ease and enabled her to open up to Poole.

“I could see how God had gone before her,” Poole said. “Immediately, we were connected and bonded.”

As Poole spent weeks with Crystal, she began to see how many students have no one to speak truth to them, to show them that they are capable of a better future and let them know they are loved and special. This realization pushed Poole to do whatever it took to help Crystal graduate from high school and to help her see that she is valued.

“You don’t realize how many children are out there with no covering,” Poole said. “They have no one to get them breakfast, help them with homework and encourage them.”

For Dena Petty, director of the Movement Towards a Future, loving students and helping them through their struggles—whether anger issues, drugs, lack of motivation or a rough family life—is living out the hope of Christ before the students’ eyes.

“I really feel that mentoring is the gospel,” Petty said. “It is one soul caring for another soul, one-on-one. It is giving someone hope each week, consistently showing up. I am only here to love you unconditionally and show you how to have a better life the best way I know how.”

Alyssa Threatt spends time with her mentor, attorney Susan McMillon.

Although the mentors were not allowed to share their faith openly unless a student directly asked since the initiative was coordinated by the school system, mentors had many opportunities to live out their faith. Many did this through being consistent in their presence and speaking words of hope to each student—words many at-risk students hadn’t heard before.

“On Sunday mornings at church, we are told to get out there and make a difference but many of us don’t know how,” Petty said. “Many (students) will not step foot in our churches. So, this is a way to show them who Christ is and meet them where they are. “

More than 60 mentors committed to meet with their assigned student for an hour during a school day for 28 weeks. As the bond between the mentor and student continued, many invested more time out of their love for the students.

“Two hours of my week changed a girl’s life for a lifetime,” Poole said. “Eight hours a month—one workday a month—made a difference in someone’s life.”

In the process of helping the students, Petty discovered 11 students in the program were homeless. Soon. she and the mentors not only became encouragers, but also resource connectors, helping the students find places to live, food to eat, jobs to provide for themselves and the necessities to survive and complete high school.

On May 4, more than 120 mentors, students and teachers gathered at Midlothian Conference Center for a luncheon and entertainment by the Midlothian High School hip-hop club to celebrate the 50 students who completed a year of mentoring. Through the program, the students completed another year of school, with nine of the 12 graduating seniors making plans to attend a community college or university, something they had not thought possible in the past.

“We had stories of one kid making Fs and Ds. His mom was drunk by 3 p.m. every day. Then he had an older brother who dropped out. Then just all the sudden, he decided to take the direction that the mentor showed him and he is making all As and Bs now,” Petty said.

Above all, Petty said, she and the mentors don’t get involved just to see students succeed in their high school careers. They get involved because they love Christ and they are called to share his hope with others.

 “We don’t do this to make a difference in the lives of others,” Petty said. “Otherwise, we will be extremely frustrated. We do this because we are called. Love the students right there where they are and let God do the rest.”

The mentoring program will continue next year through the support of First Baptist Church and the Mary Hill Davis Offering. Petty hopes to expand the program by recruiting 25 more mentors as next year the program will include any high school students instead of just upperclassmen. One Midlothian middle school already has asked to be added to the program, but Petty is still searching for funding for this expansion.

“I would love for this to grow and be in every school,” Petty said. “The people who mentor, they are so blessed. The students involved, they are so blessed. It is the way God intended it. All the doors are open in the schools for this to happen, we just need to get in there.”