KENT COUNTY, Mich. — The simplest of acts — a text, a bite to eat — can make all the difference.
For two men, their commitment to be present in the lives of select students in the Grand Rapids public school system has affected both the mentor and the mentored.
"My passion is simply to save one kid at a time," said Zach Harris, the community outreach director at Camp Roger, a summer camp in Kent County.
As part of a 12-week program, Harris mentors students from both Campus Elementary and Alger Middle School, meeting with them multiple times a week for around 20 minutes.
"I come in and talk about those setting events," said Harris, referring to how certain occurrences can trigger certain behaviors, often negative ones.
"What happened at home? What happened on the bus, walking to school?" Harris said. "How do we get you back into the classroom and acknowledge there was a struggle?"
In some cases, a bad day can begin at breakfast: "I could come to school and simply be angry about [not] eating breakfast."
On these days especially, Harris says students need a "shining star" who can be a positive role model and a confidant.
"I wish I had a mentor growing up," Harris said. "I need to be honest, I need to be honorable, and I need to understand that it's not all about me."
For Javon Sanders, it's something simliar: "You kind of just got to sit back and learn. You got to let them teach you."
This past school year, he's mentored a junior at Union High School, texting him "every day" to be the "guidance that he may need."
Sanders, who serves as an officer with the Grand Rapids Police Department, also shares meals and life lessons with his mentee.
"Number one: What is opportunity? Number two: What does it look like? Number three: How do I attain it?" Sanders said. "Then most of all: What to do with it once it's attained?"
As a member of law enforcement, Sanders says he wears "many hats." When mentoring, he puts on one that listens: "It's easy to say, 'Back in my day,' this and that," he said.
Both he and Harris have seen positive change in their students' lives. It's what it means to be a mentor.
"Seeing those kids grow from, 'I can't control emotions and I'm angry,'" Harris said, "to someone saying, 'I know how to control my anger, I know how to get back into the classroom, and I know how to say I'm sorry.'"
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