MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The Middle Tennessee State University College of Education welcomed 23 middle schoolers and 19 mentors from the university and the local community for a campus tour, fun at the Campus Recreation Center and more.

The group spent Friday, April 12, at MTSU as part of the culminating field trip of the second year of the Emerging Leaders Academy mentorship program coordinated between the College of Education’s Center for Fairness, Justice and Equity and Oakland Middle School. 

The academy serves sixth through eighth grade males who have leadership potential and been recommended for the program by a teacher or administrator. 

Shauntia Cook, Oakland Middle eighth-grade school counselor and MTSU education alumna, works with center Director Michelle Stevens, Mia Zellars, the center’s student engagement and partnership coordinator, and other staff to provide the students with social and emotional support along with opportunities for leadership and educational engagement for several weeks throughout the school year. 

“This year not only did we ‘graduate’ a larger cohort of students, but we were able to bring on 17 mentors who are MTSU male students from several different fraternities and leadership organizations across campus,” Stevens said. “In addition, we evolved the curriculum to deliver a leadership series over six weeks at Oakland Middle during their fall semester with a wrap-up Leadership Panel and Conference Celebration in December followed by six weeks of mentorship during this spring semester, culminating with the visit to campus.” 

Kevarrius Wright, a sophomore in media management, was already serving as the mentor chair of MTSU’s Collegiate 100 chapter — an organization of 100 Black, male MTSU students who mentor Black boys across the Midstate region — when Zellars reached out about bringing Collegiate 100 members into the academy as mentors. 

“The kids (grew) more vocal and more aware of what to improve on, especially on behavior,” said Wright, who had his own seventh-grade mentee, about the impacts he witnessed on academy participants. “The center needed mentors like us who look like the mentees, and it made us want to better the boys even more and let them witness that there is still time to improve on their behavior for their continued (success) in the classroom.”

A day of milestones, celebration

Center staffers Lisa Strayer, executive assistant, Tara Wallace, recruitment and engagement specialist for one of the center’s major initiatives, and Jadon Vanzant, one of the center’s graduate assistants, rounded out the academy’s development team. Zellars, trained at MTSU in clinical mental health counseling and with a background working with at-risk populations, played a key role along with Cook in the spring semester of mentorship for academy participants. 

In addition to learning more about MTSU, spending time at the Rec Center and enjoying lunch, the emerging leaders met with Neporcha Cone, the College of Education dean, for a discussion about leadership and ended the day with a photo op with university mascot Lightning and receiving their medals of completion.

Stevens said this year’s highlights included a 100% completion rate for eighth grade participants, an overall decrease in the students’ disciplinary referrals, students receiving recognition for their efforts at Oakland’s annual Academic Awards Ceremony and the impact and dedication of mentors, especially those from MTSU, on the young participants. 

“The plan for next year is to continue to implement the leadership curriculum and to add opportunities for participants to learn practical life skills that are unique for young male future leaders,” Stevens said. 

Learn more about the Center for Fairness, Justice and Equity and its work at https://mtsu.edu/fjecoe/. 

— Stephanie Wagner (Stephanie.Wagner@mtsu.edu)