Guys with Ties program prepares Tusky Valley students for success
Denton Hawkins, left, and Jase Deubner with Corey Street, who leads the Guys with Ties program at Tusky Valley. The boys said it is worth missing recess to be in the group.
Every month at Tusky Valley Intermediate School in Bolivar, more than 30 third-grade boys are sacrificing recess time and wearing a shirt and tie to be part of a group called Guys with Ties.
Guys with Ties is a leadership group that started in Canton under the direction of Beyond the Game, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that aims to help kids understand sports are a platform to achieving a higher education and reaching their potential as adults.
The group’s motto is “look good, feel good, do good.” The boys come dressed for success and ready to learn. Lessons are designed to provide boys with the skills they need to become successful young men.
“We start with a handshake greeting where the boys are focused on making eye contact, smiling, looking each other squarely in the face, giving a firm handshake, introducing themselves and giving the other person a compliment,” said Corey Street, who heads up the program at Tusky Valley.
After each lesson, the boys are issued a challenge, which can range from helping an elderly neighbor to simply applying what they learned in the meeting at home, according to Street.
Last month the boys were challenged to deliver random acts of kindness. Some of them shared the ways they were kind to others, including making a new person feel welcome, sharing their lunch and holding the door for someone.
On Wednesday, Feb. 15, the focus was on dining etiquette. Neeko Longshore, a program manager from the organization, taught the boys how to use their best manners when dining, whether at a restaurant, at home or at school.
They learned not to reach across the table but to ask someone to pass an item. Among the other lessons were to always place their napkins on their laps, not to talk with their mouths full, not to eat too quickly and never to use electronics, like phones or iPads, during a meal.
“Sometimes, that can make you feel left out,” one student said.
“There are way too many adults that don’t know these manners,” Street told the group. “This is something you can start working on right now because it’s not like people are picking up these manners all of a sudden when they’re 30, 40 or 50 years old. You get really good at it, and then people are going to look up to you because you’re going to be different in a good way.”
Students also were tested on setting a table properly and were taught to always thank their servers and others in a restaurant setting and the cooks in the school cafeteria.
“The goal for Guys with Ties is to instill values in the boys that allow them to stand out, teach others and become better leaders, whether it’s at home or church or school,” Street said.
“We have fun with it and try to make it cool for the kids to be respectful, help others and be positive role models,” Longshore said. “Our lessons give them a guide as to what they should be doing or should strive to do.”
Longshore leads the Guys with Ties program in seven elementary schools. “I see a lot of kids actively engaging with us and learning,” he said.
“The philosophy behind teaching these things explicitly is that not everybody is learning these things at home in the same way maybe they used to years ago,” Street said. “So we’re trying to level that playing field and make sure the students are set up to be successful in school and whatever they choose to do in life as well.”
Jase Deubner, a member of the group, said he likes being a part of it and wearing a tie. “It makes me feel kind of professional.”
Denton Hawkins said he enjoys being with his friends and wearing a tie as well. Both boys have no problems with giving up their recess to attend the sessions.
“It’s worth it because it teaches us to be a better person than we were before this program,” Hawkins said.