Gold Stars

Mentors Care graduate Cade is living out his dream of serving in the U.S. Navy! He finished Basic Training Oct 1st and is now preparing to start his A-School any day now. In between all that, he took the time to call his mentor coordinator and talk for over an hour.

He was in Mentors Care for all fours years of high school. His mentor, Tim E., is our program’s longest standing mentor. This young man has broken away from a horrible past of abandonment, emotional abuse, rejection, deep hurts and more than we could imagine. Cade shared that his biggest takeaway from our program is to DREAM BIG and believe he could achieve his dreams, and he did! “Life looks different now and has more meaning now.” -Cade

When I met Dayton, he was a seemingly shy and timid junior at Palmer High School where I serve as the program coordinator. In my time here at Palmer, over the last semester, I’ve built a friendship with Dayton where he has truly shown me the capable, kind, hardworking young man that he is.

Dayton has struggled with grades and motivation. In his almost four years of high school, he’s only been eligible to show a project with Future Farmers of America (FFA) once. He recalls winning first place in one category and either 4th or 5th place in another.

This month, Dayton will again finally be able to show a big project that he and 2 other students have been working on for months. If they win, the Palmer FFA and Agricultural Department also benefit with prizes such as new tools and equipment for their shop. This will be a highlight of his senior year here at Palmer and his mentor, Brandy Dillon couldn’t be more ecstatic about his success!

“He has matured into a hardworking adult,” said Dillon. “He has followed his passion and talent in welding and has been bragged upon by current and former teachers. When I started mentoring him as a freshman, I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I wanted him to graduate, and it seemed so far off. He has done well at school and in life and grown in positive ways each year,” she said.

“He has probably taught me more than I’ve taught him. I will watch him graduate this year and I am so proud of him.”

Dayton will graduate this spring and plans to continue his education for a career in welding at Texas State Technical College (TSTC).

“I’m looking forward to TSTC and seeing where it leads me. Welding and fabrication is my passion,” said Branscum.

I’m no expert but having seen his work and the heart he puts into it, I have no doubt he will succeed in every way! - Kelsie Irion, Mentors Care Program Coordinator, Palmer HS

She received her high school diploma last night at our January school board meeting!

Desiree has worked incredibly hard this year to reach this milestone in her life.

The word of the year for Mentors Care has been “Resilience” and I think that Desiree is the definition of resilience.

Life hasn’t always been easy for Desiree. Homelife was chaotic and she has moved around quite a bit. She dropped out of school before becoming pregnant her Senior year. Desiree and her boyfriend Michael moved back in with her stepdad in August and she enrolled at Maypearl High School.

She started the Finish Line program where she was able to make up past credits and achieve senior status and graduate in January. This program is instrumental in the success of students like Desiree who otherwise would not be able to finish high school due to difficult life circumstances.

Before coming back this year, Desiree had so many excessive absences her junior year. Even though her grades were great, she would not attend enough to get the credit for the class.

This year, with the help of her boyfriend and stepdad, Desiree made it to school every day unless she had a doctors appointment. She was also finally learning to trust her mentor and me enough to share with us the many obstacles she has overcome in the past. I am so proud of how driven Desiree was to complete her high school education. Desiree delivered a healthy baby girl in December and is doing wonderfully. We are all so proud of her!

I began mentoring Fidel in 2017 during his junior year. His kind heart and never give up attitude truly inspired me from the beginning! During his two final years at Maypearl High School, he worked so hard to accomplish his goal to graduate.

Along with that, we had many conversations about his future and what options he would have because I knew he WOULD graduate! He learned that there were so many opportunities out there after high school and we did a lot of research together.

Fidel DID graduate in 2019 after pushing himself and preserving through many obstacles. We have kept in touch and he was so proud to tell me in November that he would begin his studies for his medical assistant certification! He has completed his courses and is ready to get to work serving others in this field!

Proud is an understatement of what I feel for this guy! He believed in himself and never gave up. To hear the pride in his voice when he talks about his accomplishments is truly inspiring. – Jessica Roberts, Mentor & Coordinator

When Haylee joined Mentors Care, she was very broken. As a sophomore, her grades were the last item of focus on her agenda. But it really was clear she had such a gentle spirit. It had just been badly battered.

When she joined the program and met her mentor, Ms. Jamie, the two instantly clicked and their bond was evident. Haylee eventually began to open up to Ms. Jamie when before she was really wounded and closed off. She even began to form a bond with her coordinator, Ms. Krystal who was always there to lend an ear and offer up guidance.

Haylee made choices to turn her life and future totally around! Fast forward to today, her Junior year, she is a starter for the Varsity soccer team, passing all of her classes and working vigorously to improve her GPA because now she’s LOOKING AT COLLEGES! The leaps and bounds that Haylee has overcome is so humbling. Now she is enjoying life and even laughs, which is music to our ears because only a year ago, she couldn’t even bring herself to crack a smile.

Haylee is an Overcomer! She is a victor and no longer a victim! All of us have benefitted from her complete turnaround. Haylee seems to truly understand the meaning of living life in freedom and joy! It’s contagious!

Way to go, Haylee! We are so very proud of you! And thank you for being a positive influence on all of us at Mentors Care.

Haven Moreno was selected this month as Mentors Care’s ‘Gold Star’ graduate because we are so very proud of her success and how far she’s come. Haven elected to enroll in the Mentors Care program as a freshman attending Midlothian High School (MSH). She was failing in grades and dealing with a lot of anxiety and depression and dealing with difficult circumstances at home. She always felt angry and ended up in a lot of fights at school. She lacked self-esteem, self-control, and coping mechanisms required to overcome life’s day-to-day challenges.

Fortunately for Haven, her decision to join Mentors Care and meet weekly with her mentor was a lifechanging choice. Paired with the same mentor each school year, Haven began to make major changes in the behaviors that were creating a barrier to her academic success and self-growth.

She became more active and involved at school. She went to prom, joined the drill team (The Pantheretts) and worked hard to make better grades earning all A’s and B’s! She learned coping skills that helped mitigate her anxiety and began to see that she can’t control all circumstances but she can control her reactions by making better decisions. She takes heart having learned that not every problem with other people is an attack on her personally.

When asked how Mentors Care has positively impacted her life, she said,
“If it wasn’t for the Mentors Care program, I wouldn’t be here. This program saved my life.”

Today, she is a high school graduate, a first-generation graduate in her family to be accepted into college. Truly, she has changed her entire life’s trajectory.

“I’m super proud of her for all she’s accomplished. From not coming to class and no coping skills to doing so well and ready for college, she’s just such a special person,” said Ev’marie Peach, MHS mentor coordinator and close confidant to Haven.

Haven’s transformation has influenced other students in the program as well. Joining with other seniors enrolled in Mentors Care, she’s part of a small community of elder students taking younger students under their wings and supporting them on their journey toward graduation and more fulfilling lives.

Salvador came to Mentors Care from a Juvenile Justice AEP program in Dallas County. His story and the situations he was in gave him every reason to quit and not pursue success in life. He was caught selling drugs and was put in the Juvenile system and send to the JJAEP program in Dallas County.

Through all of this, no one ever asked him what happened or why he did it. Up to this point, his story is very similar to a lot of young people living in urban areas: A young kid on the streets selling drugs. But something didn’t add up, he went from making As and Bs to only passing one class for the second semester of 2018-19. This current school year, he has buckled down and earned 19 semesters worth of work with totaled 9.5 credits to finish this year!

Since he entered the Mentors Care program, he has done very well and opened up; not only about his past but also his dreams for his future. He wants to be an accountant. He and his mentor, Wes Dorough, talked weekly about how to achieve his goals. While he was finishing his courses in Hawks Success (an online school for students of Red Oak HS to be able to catch up to their peers and graduate on time) he took time to complete his FAFSA and apply to colleges. He finished all of his high school requirements in February and had his walk-through in the counselor's office!

Salvador has been one of the students who motivate me to continue to reach other students and we will continue our relationship and use his story to motivate other students to keep pressing through hard times.

I am so glad that Mrs. Jennifer Thomas, Mrs. Andrea Jones, and other teachers and school administrators saw more than just his past and asked him about his story. We may have never known the details of his past if they hadn’t taken an interest in him.

Thank you and to all the staff and administrators who believed in him and gave him the chance at a fresh start! I am proud to be a part of such a great school district, I am blown away by their dedication in helping every student and making sure no one has fallen into the cracks or has been overlooked. -Sean Byas, Mentors Care Expansion Coordinator

Tiffany’s mom passed away when she was a sophomore after battling a very aggressive stage of cancer. She lost her best friend and personal encouraging corner that day.

Tiff quit basketball abruptly and had the hardest year of track because grief gripped her. School was very foggy. She lost her motivation.

Last year, 2019, Mentors Care opened at Ferris HS. She was one the first students in the program. Her Mentor last year and this year have helped groom, uplift, befriend, encourage, and give her the motivation she needed to pursue her dreams of gong to college.

Her family is not financially able to assist Tiff so she knew she needed a scholarship. With the help of coaches, Tiffany has signed with Kansas Westland for a track scholarship. She is so excited and knows that her Mom is smiling in Heaven.