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Bond between city student and Greenville
businessman leads to scholastic success |
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Newark, Del. —
Recent McKean High School graduate Pierre Sturgis and Greenville businessman Tim Reis share a bond that transcends skin color and economic class.
Since fourth grade, Reis has been a strong male presence in Sturgis’ life. It is the kind of mentorship that can help a young man overcome a rough neighborhood and a transient scholastic career.
Sturgis is being raised by a single mother on the North Side of Wilmington, where murders and drug deals are part of the bleak urban landscape, and where only half of the black students graduate from high school.
It did not help that Sturgis attended six schools, or that he had to endure classmates teasing him for being smart. Sometimes, he could not help getting into a fistfight.
“I had moments where I probably thought I wouldn’t make it,” Sturgis said. “But I had my aunt, my mom, my grand-mom, my mentor Tim Reis – they all backed me up and helped me achieve. They pushed to help me achieve my goals and dreams.
“I’m the first of the family to graduate. There was so much pressure, so graduating today means a lot to me, but also a lot to my family,” he said after commencement exercises held June 7 at the University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center.
He finished with a 3.0 grade point average.
When he was just a third-grader, Sturgis yearned for a male role model in his life. By fourth grade, he met Reis through Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
“From there on, our friendship has grown,” Sturgis said. “He is really a big brother to me.”
Among other things, Reis allowed him to stay at his house for a year so that he could be supported as he finished high school.
“In a bad environment, I felt myself going into the crowd of the bad influence instead of walking away from it,” Sturgis said. “Tim is a good role model – a businessman.”
Sturgis plans to attend Delaware Tech for two years, then transfer to a four-year college. His backup plan is to join the U.S. Navy after Del Tech. He wants to become a mechanical engineer.
It is easy for boys to become juvenile delinquents who vandalize school buses, Reis said. He understands because he had also pulled “some stupid, silly stunts as a kid.”
But while boys get into trouble, friendships built through mentoring programs can show them the right way, Reis said.
Reis works for Friess Associates in community relations and operations. Reis’ boss, Foster Friess, and former Gov. Tom Carper inspired him and “hundreds if not thousands of Delawareans to get involved with one-on-one mentoring.”
“When I first met Pierre, he was in special education. So, at that point in time in his life, the statistics will tell you that he wouldn’t be here today,” Reis said. “He wouldn’t have graduated.”
Reis worked to get Sturgis out of special education, but it took some convincing of school officials.
“I basically represented his mother and pleaded with the principal of Commodore to more or less give him an opportunity as a seventh-grader to take one [regular] class,” Reis said.
Reis also convinced school officials to forget about some of the glitches in
Sturgis’ record. Because he was not a problem in the classroom and was doing well, they ultimately allowed him to take mainstream classes by eighth grade at Central Middle School in the Capital School District. By then, he was living in Dover with his father, who had just gotten out of prison.
When Sturgis was accepted into regular classes, Reis gave him an analogy that drew upon a trip to the gym one Saturday.
“I said, ‘What you’re going to experience is much like somebody giving you an empty barbell – which is what you’ve had – and you remember what it was like when I put 25 pounds on either side of that. It was heavier and it was hard. You couldn’t do it. That’s what you’re going to experience by going into that classroom.
“But you’re also going to realize that after the first couple times, you can lift that weight with 25 pounds on each side.’ He understood that analogy. He knew what he had to do. So, he kept his nose clean for those 30 days and from that point in seventh grade really has not looked back in terms of his academics.”
Sturgis’ mom, Bernadette Sturgis, said Reis’ help was invaluable, providing strength that helped Pierre get to where he is today.
“I thank God for him,” she said as her family and Reis’ waited for a table at Olive Garden in Newark after graduation. “We've been through rough times, but it’s here. I knew he could do it.”
Sturgis’ aunt, April Dupree, said Reis is not just a mentor.
“He’s part of the family,” she said. “He’s really become a really big inspiration to Pierre. He’s at every event. When Pierre gave his life to Christ and was baptized, Tim was right there. He’s always eating with us, breaking bread with us. |
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