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YSU football players act as Kirkmere mentors
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
They talked about sports, girls, schoolwork and family.
Monday marked the first meeting of boys at Discovery at Kirkmere and their mentors who are Youngstown State University football players.
Jalen Berry, 12, a seventh-grader at Kirkmere, peppered Joshmere Dawson, a YSU senior, with questions. He started with girls. It seems Jalen gets distracted from school by his female classmates.
Dawson cautioned against that.
“You’ve got your whole life ahead of you,” he said. “There will be time for girls later.”
Stay focused on school, Dawson, an Akron native who plays defensive tackle, instructed. Your academic performance in middle school lays the foundation for what you’ll learn in high school, he said.
High school builds the foundation for college, Dawson said.
Dawson is majoring in criminal justice.
Besides Jalen, Dawson also will serve as a mentor to Rodney Carter, 13, an eighth-grader at Kirkmere.
Rodney was more reserved, listening to what Dawson told Jalen.
Misha Scott, Kirkmere principal, said school personnel selected the boys, believing they would benefit from a mentor. Some of them need extra help academically; for others, they need help with behavior. The players give the younger students more guidance, offering assistance for issues they don’t want to discuss with teachers or parents.
Mike Butch, assistant principal, contacted Donald D’Alesio, YSU defensive line coach, to set up the program.
The program allows the younger students to see older students who are being successful both on the football field and in the classroom.
“We want our kids to think about going to college,” Butch said.
Rollen Smith, YSU assistant director of football operations, said he selected players he believes the Kirkmere students will be able to identify with.
The selected players have been through similar issues that the younger students face.
Smith works at the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center. He pointed to one Kirkmere student, saying he sees the same look in the student’s eyes that he sees in the eyes of teens he sees in court.
The YSU athletes provided their phone numbers so the younger students can reach them. Smith said they’re hoping the younger boys can come to a home football game. There’s also talk of a campus tour for the Kirkmere boys.
Shane Kuhn, a YSU junior from Pittsburgh, was matched with Justin Rogers, 14, an eighth-grader, and Eric Carver, 13, a seventh-grader.
They talked about Kuhn’s football career.
Justin believes he could beat his mentor in a race.
“Maybe someday,” Kuhn, a civil-engineering major who plays both tight end and fullback, chuckled. “I think I’ve got you now, though.”