HEATHER EIDSON | THE TIMES Eighth-grader Robert, 13, lives in Gary and hopes to have a mentor, "So I can learn how to become a man and how to take care of my responsibilities." Officials with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana hope to recruit 50 mentors in 50 days. They currently have only seven adult mentors for 50 male youths.

NORTHWEST TIMES: Gary teen looking for guidance, just desserts

By Gregory Tejeda

Editor's note: The Times will feature mentor profiles on Tuesdays and Saturdays during the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana's 50-day Rites of Passage campaign.

Robert is only 13, yet he already aspires to be a pastry chef.

Robert is a student at 21st Century Charter School of Gary, where he plays on the basketball and track and field teams. But he also will spend this year in the Rites of Passage program maintained by the Boys & Girls Club in Gary. His last name is being withheld at the request of Paul Washington Jr., the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northwest Indiana Rite of Passage program director.

That program is meant to pair up boys growing up in homes without fathers with adult men in hope the presence of a male in their lives will inspire them to want more out of life than they would seek if they were limited to their homes.

"Right now, people hear where I'm from and they think ‘gangs' and ‘torn-down buildings,' and that stands in my way of getting ahead in life," Robert said.
Robert said he hopes the mentor with whom he is eventually paired is someone who could give him an example on how a business is run. Between that and the skills he'd someday like to develop by attending a culinary arts school, he said he hopes to make progress toward achieving his goals in life.

"I want to learn how to become a man," Robert said. "One who is humble and tries to live by example."


View more success stories.