The Blog

To Be Courageous

One of the best things I did in the New Year was to see the movie Courageous. It may not win an Oscar based on Hollywood’s standards of good movie making. However, for its message of hope, faith, honor and fatherhood it was a runaway success!

Courageous elevated my thinking and behavior about my role as a mentor, father and husband.  It taught me that I have the ability to grow from a good father to a great father, from a good husband to a great husband, and from a good mentor to a great mentor. And so we want that for our young men!   We want them to grow from good students to great students, from good sons to great sons, and from good men to great men.

This is our focus.  We expect greatness from everyone. We want the entire M2M family to be courageous!  We want for our mentors to be courageous every moment they spend with our mentees; our parents to be courageous in the home as they inspire our young men to reach their potential; and our young men to be courageous in their classrooms and in their communities even when it’s difficult.

As we are at the halfway point of the academic year, I wanted to share some program highlights thus far.

• In September we opened our second M2M site at Walker Mill Middle School!  Our Thursday after-school program has taken root and continues to expand our vision and mission. Rob Howze, a minister, motivational speaker, and founder and director of the World Wide Community youth organization helped open the Walker Mill site, and now serves at M2M Program Director. Rob brings a wealth of experience working with youth through sports, education and mentoring.

• In November, Fox News political correspondent, author and historian Juan Williams visited with the boys and gave an outstanding presentation on courage and toughness.  He shared that courage is responding to adversity with ideas, a vision and a plan of execution.

• In November we also held our first Men Who Make the Difference Celebration.   It was an evening to remember!  But more importantly, it showcased the courage of men in our community who dedicate their lives to others and inspire new generations of men to do the same.
• In January, M2M extended Saturday morning tutoring hours an extra half-hour and conducted student/parent/mentor/tutor conferences to address individual issues that are impeding progress and making a plan for success. We hope that these adjustments will promote improved student academic performance.

This is what M2M is all about.  We are determined to break strongholds, change hearts and minds and restore our families and communities. We will continue to show our young men that there are no limitations to who and what they can become. And we will continue to love them as the world in many ways fights to hold them back.  Together we will push our young men to the edge of their greatness and God given potential so that they have the courage to not only run, but finish the race of life.  And we look forward to doing it with you!

Therman Evans, Esquire

M2M Board Chair