SEMINOLE \u2014 When Jayden, Ke’vatae, Kason, Zayden and Jameire walked into a Seminole Middle School classroom, mentor Steven Sorrells greeted each with a handshake and hug before their lunch-and-learn session.<\/p>\n
For six years, Sorrells, a ministry director at Young Life, has volunteered as a mentor to students. When his wife, Telitha, a paraprofessional at Ridgecrest Elementary, died of colon cancer seven years ago, Sorrells channeled his grief into helping young people.<\/p>\n
“This filled a void and gave me a sense of purpose,” Sorrells said. “It redirected my energies.”<\/p>\n
The couple had worked with a troubled student who later recognized Telitha’s photo when Sorrells gave him a ride home. “She was my favorite teacher,” the student said.<\/p>\n
Recently, Sorrells helped launch a reading program called “Bridging the Gap” that Seminole Middle and High School students, teachers and mentors have embraced to help struggling readers.<\/p>\n
The results: 344 students rose one grade level in reading, earning them a free barbecue celebration.<\/p>\n
Seminole Middle School Principal Robert Ovalle said students now show “proficiency in the grade level they’re in. We haven’t had that in a while.”<\/p>\n
“Mr. Steven,” as students call him, initially took a gentle approach, listening more than talking. Once he earned their trust, he became more direct with advice.<\/p>\n
“Kids want to be listened to and they want to feel they belong,” Sorrells said. “We want them to know they are seen, heard, loved and valued.”<\/p>\n
As the eighth graders sat at a round table showing their academic progress on cellphones, Sorrells praised their successes while emphasizing the importance of turning in all assignments.<\/p>\n
“Take control of your academics,” he said.<\/p>\n
More advice followed: “Life is hard, but don’t quit.” “Critically think, problem-solve, have self-awareness.” “Avoid conflict.”<\/p>\n
After listening quietly, the students responded regularly with “Yes, sir.”<\/p>\n
Then Sorrells introduced another key word: commitment.<\/p>\n
“I’d like each of you to do 10 minutes of undivided reading a day,” he said. “Can you commit to that?”<\/p>\n
One by one, they agreed.<\/p>\n
“Mr. Steven teaches us to be better people,” Ke’vatae said. “I want to get A’s and B’s. It feels better when I go home and tell my parents. I’m comfortable talking to him about certain things. He gives advice when we’re dealing with problems.”<\/p>\n
Ke’vatae and Jayden said Sorrells has inspired them to consider college. Besides wanting to play football, they’re interested in business and engineering.<\/p>\n
“I have so much respect for him,” Jayden said. “We go way back, to fifth grade. Everyone listens to him. When he talks to us, he reflects on what we say. We talk about life.”<\/p>\n
Jayden now works with elementary students at Art4Life. “I’d like to be a coach and mentor,” he said.<\/p>\n
Sorrells said he’s sometimes “floored” by what students share with him. But understanding what they’re going through helps him guide them.<\/p>\n
“I wish I had more time to do this,” he said. “A kid is one adult away from being successful. The kids have taught me patience and resilience, and I love to hear their stories. It’s a blessing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEMINOLE \u2014 When Jayden, Ke’vatae, Kason, Zayden and Jameire walked into a Seminole Middle School classroom, mentor Steven…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[113,64992,596,3883,64991,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-132106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-education","9":"tag-mentor-program","10":"tag-pinellas-county","11":"tag-seminole","12":"tag-seminole-middle","13":"tag-st-pete","14":"tag-st-pete-headlines","15":"tag-st-pete-news","16":"tag-st-petersburg","17":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","18":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}