Cherokee school counselor Audrey Young watched from a corner of the gym, smiling with pride.
The camp was her idea.
“We have so much for girls, with outside organizations coming in, but nothing for boys. So in the fall I told the staff I wanted to try this to teach them leadership skills and offer community for them, work on social skills and offer them positive role models, sort of what we do for girls,” said Young.
“It’s been so wonderful,” said Young, adding she hopes to expand the program next school year.
She said feedback from the participating boys and their parents has been very positive.
“Some parents have told me it’s the only morning their boys get out of bed without complaining,” Young said, smiling.
Cherokee school parent Michael Curry was the guest speaker last week.
The former power forward from the University of Tennessee towered over the boys even when sitting in front of them as he talked about the importance of respect.
“Respect is earned, so you need to start treating people the way you want to be treated,” Curry told the boys.
“Believe it or not, I wasn’t always this big and kids used to beat me up and take my lunch money and I didn’t know how to react to it,” he told them.
Cherokee physical education teacher Jim Bodden said the program is making a difference.
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“We’ve been targeting on heart, humility, honesty and respect,” said Bodden, coordinator of the 90-minute gatherings that also include group games — on this morning bowling teams in the gym and basketball — mixed in with discussions.
Curry described “Man Camp” as awesome.
“Hopefully they will get something out of these meetings that they will use later on in life as adults,” he said.
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