The Point Teams With Local Mennonites To Kick Start The School Year

By Adam Straubel

On Monday night, the Parkesburg Point and Maple Grove Mennonite Church partnered to provide backpacks filled with back-to-school supplies to area children. 160 students from 45 families signed up to receive backpacks.

The event included a barbeque dinner, a message by the Point's Executive Director, Dwayne Walton, and a presentation by volunteers about the Point's Spring missions trip to Haiti. The evening also included awards for students making honor roll, provided by Hershey Motors.

Each backpack was individually packed and labeled for a specific child. To be eligible to receive the backpack, children were required to bring their parents to the event.

Due to power outages from Hurricane Irene, the event was postponed from Sunday evening to Monday evening. “It is upsetting to think that some students started school without book bags or supplies”, Dwayne commented, “yet all registered students were still able to attend. It is wonderful to see the church respond to a community need.”

The event stressed the value of education and the hope and strength found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Families were encouraged to become more involved at the Point, in the lives of their children, and in the community.

Thanks to Morgan Umble, here are some photos from the evening:

Parkesburg Point, Coming To The Aid Of A Generation At Risk.

By Adam Straubel, Director of Development at Parkesburg Point Youth Center

Today, I saw a 7th grader with an Iphone 4, an unemployed 25 year old living with his parents somehow shopping for video games, a teenager driving “his” 2011 car, a group of high school student all under 6 feet tall with only NBA aspirations, and high school graduate who refused to work a job 'under his level'.

There are forces affecting all youth today. They are the product of media, marketing, and parental influence. These forces are slightly different for kids from rich and poor homes.

It is not easy being a kid is born into a family with money. Marketers have convinced your family and peers that sustaining a certain position in life is essential. Your biggest need by far is loving parents, which you may or may not have. Family and friends all seem to have plans for your life that end in you achieving success. From the age of 13, possibly younger, access to prescription strength drugs is a phone call away.

It is not easy being a kid born into poverty. It is highly unlikely that you have both parents at home. Parents that are around are probably absent or unsupportive. Your role models are popular musicians and athletes; they came from the same background as you and managed to be successful. 

Yet almost all of these “heros” are self aggrandizing narcissists whose sexual exploits and drug use are sensationalized by the media.

Both types of kids are tempted by drugs—to self medicate the pain in their lives, to fit in with peers, and to achieve some level of happiness that adults seem to lack. Both types of kids have had success defined for them by society. Societal definitions of success show a surprising lack of humanity.

Society presents your average “at-risk” youth as poor, struggling in school, or from single parent homes. This concept needs to be reconsidered; all students face decisions at young ages that can destroy their lives. In other words, all youth are at risk.

We have been given too much and asked little in return. A Haitian proverb says “gifts make slaves, as whips make dogs.” As youth, we have been robbed of the satisfaction of self sufficiency. Perhaps the answer to the question, 'why have our kids failed, we have given them everything?', lies within the question itself.

If you see some truth in the analysis, perhaps you will agree with the following solution.

The Parkesburg Point has a vision where youth are taught the value of hard work. What does that look like for a 13 year old kid in the 21st century?

Based on research published in Time Magazine in 2008, which tested implementing different incentive programs to improve test scores with great success, the Point has developed an incentive program that rewards kids for working through online math modules and reading books.

Our math program uses the free online resource Khan Academy, which is a compilation of lessons on every math subject from K-12 and modules that allow student progress to be tracked. Students in our program will be rewarded for each module they complete.

Our reading program uses software called Accelerated Reader, which has a quiz for almost every book written to determine whether or not they have read it. Students will be rewarded for every book read when they have completed the associated quiz.

Harder math modules and harder books will have a bigger reward. They will also be required to give 10% to a charitable cause of their choice and save 10% for their future.

Parents will have the opportunity to sponsor their own child going through this program. Donors will have the opportunity to sponsor a child whose parents are unable or unwilling to do so.

The genius of this program is how the kids are paid. Rather than handing them cash, the money will be redeemable at a Point Store, a market place selling the things that kids need and want. Each student will have an account where the money will be deposited.

I do not want my kids growing up in a community where the median age of marijuana and alcohol use is 14 years old, 80% of high school seniors have consumed alcohol, and 1 in 5 teens have considered suicide.

I do want my kids growing up in a community where youth value education; a community where kids push themselves to learn calculus in 8th grade to earn money to save up for a car; where kids read 15 books a summer to have a little spending money; and where teachers get a little more community support in developing our children academically.

Kids need hope. They also respond to incentives. They do not sell drugs because they want to destroy lives; they do it to earn money. If the community is serious about developing the next generation of ethical young leaders, give them the incentive to invest in themselves from a young age, teaching the values that will make them assets to local businesses and the community.

This vision is part of the Point's larger youth development program that addresses the spiritual, emotional, physical, and academic needs of the community. Through this vision we can create a culture among young people that we say we want.

If you have any comments on this vision, want to see a more robust description of the program and how it works, or want to be involved in its implementation, please come to the Point and talk to us.

Volunteer. Become a monthly supporter. We need your input, support, and guidance.

Who Is This Guy, Dwayne Walton?

Dwayne Walton and his wife Amy.  The Waltons have two children.

Note:  About a month ago, after meeting Adam Straubel for the first time, I asked him to write a biographical piece on Dwayne Walton, Parkesburg Point's Executive Director.  I first met Dwayne several months ago when he invited me to stop by The Point, Parkesburg's home-away-from-home for local teenagers run and supported by area churches.  While I had heard bits and pieces of Walton's story over the years, no one had put it together in a single place.  Dwayne's too modest (and busy!) to tell the story himself.  But Adam was more than willing to take on the assignment.  What follows is Adam's take on what makes Dwayne and The Point tick.

By Adam Straubel

One of the hardest questions I was ever asked in college came on a pre-class survey.  Who is your role model, and who is your hero?

A role model was described as person whose behavior, example, and success we seek to emulate.  A hero stands in a class of his own; his strength of character is so great that it exists far outside the realm of possible for most human beings.  

While heroes are the subject of books and quotation, role models rarely get any press.  Role models are the people in our lives who transcend the impossibility of heroism and show us how to live with integrity.

Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Jesus and other powerful historical figures emerge as the easy answers to the latter question.  But what about the former?

As a member of the abbreviated-attention-span-addicted-to-social-media generation Y, raised in a middle class and Christian home, finding a role model that embodies these characteristics was unusually difficult.  Who understands the depth of today’s youth culture and social problems, has been personally involved in my life, whose example I could hope to follow?

I would have been without an honest answer, if not for Dwayne Walton.

I had met Dwayne when I was a teenager, a bored local youth attracted to the Parkesburg Point for its ping pong tables and skate park.

A dark-skinned South American man who seemed to always be smiling, missing 3 point shots on the basketball court, or somehow captivating a room full of restless young people in an evening message, Dwayne’s genuine interest in our lives was unquestionable.  His story was incredible.

Dwayne lived the first 6 years of his life in Guyana, a small South American country.  He grew up in Brooklyn and Queens New York, attending the same high school as the rapper “50 Cent”.  His father abandoned the family and was later murdered; two uncles were murdered, one right in front of him.  He has overcome challenges greater than I will ever face.  What could have possibly brought this man to Parkesburg?

One day, members an outreach to students in Queens called Student Venture challenged Dwayne and his friends to a game of basketball.  Dwayne and his friends laughed, easily beating the visitors.  Afterward they began talking about God, teaching a message of forgiveness and hope.  As Dwayne describes it, “This was the first time in my life where Jesus had left the church and came to where I was.”

Dwayne was introduced to Willie Branch, an articulate academic type always looking to put students like Dwayne into leadership positions.  "I learned early through Willie's example to walk by faith, trusting that God is in control," Dwayne says. "It was hard to give those struggles over to God, to forgive."

Dwayne’s involvement with the Point began in 2005, serving initially as volunteer and currently as Executive Director.  To many, Dwayne has become the face of the Point.  He works on a daily basis with students and speaks regularly at churches.  He coordinates backpack drives, rewards for students making honor roll, meal distribution, and support during emergency situations.

To those that identify as Christian, Dwayne is committed to serving the “least among us”.  To a more secular audience, he is committed to “at-risk” youth.  Regardless, the impact he has had on the youth in Parkesburg has been tremendous.

As a 22 year old, I can say that the need for individuals like Dwayne and centers like the Point extends far beyond this “at-risk” group.  A place to be seen as more than disposable income, a place to explore spiritual issues, a place to be encouraged to serve others, a place to discuss pressures and challenges, a place that is concerned with personal development.  

The vision that Dwayne has for the center is one that holistically addresses the needs of all young people, providing physical, emotional, academic, and spiritual resources to students in a personal manner.  It is a vision I have embraced, and one that I believe the whole community can support.  

I cannot quite express the depth of the impact that such a role model has had on my life, as I am sure Dwayne struggles to communicate about Willie.  Dwayne himself, as well as the young people he has worked with over the last 6 years, are proof that it is possible for a single positive role model to change a life.