Bammel Middle School Initiative

Houston Youth Mentorship At Work

Houston PRLog: Bridge The Gaps, has been busy at work for the past few months actively working with Bammel Middle School through our BAMM (Behavior, Attitude, Mental, Mentorship) Program. The onsite BAMM program targets at-risk and under privilege students who may be faced with personal and or mental hardships that can reflect on their ability to perform or learn in the classroom. The BAMM Program has two class periods consisting of about 30-40 students and is about 30 minutes long. Coach Durham is onsite every Wednesday, specifically working with a group of select students. Every Wednesday the students focus on a new initiative that will help them in their journey to becoming a man.

BAMM Program at work at Bammel Middle School

Onsite Mentorship

The onsite program has covered a variety of topics in an open discussion format including:

What does it mean to be a man?

Challenging the young men to think about this meaning on a personal level and an external level and what efforts they are making based on their interpretation.

Responsibilities of a young man

What responsibilities do they have versus what do they think they shouldn’t have? In a stressful environment, many of these young boys are being forced to be the men of their households at the age of 11 or 12. How does that impact their ability to learn, grow, etc?

Mental health of young men

Conversations include addressing friends, family, and community losses, fears, and their understanding of being a victim. What are the consequences of actions directly in their community such as fights, shootings, and murders, and how do those actions impact their emotions and mental health?

Characteristics of a man

A review of the core values and characteristics of a man, based on their discussions. How to uphold one’s self and how to do things like shake hands. You’d be surprised how many young men do not know how to shake hands. They learn the importance of eye contact and the meaning of a man’s word.

Financial Discussions

We’ve had guest speakers come in and chat with them about financial responsibility and why saving is important. How to save is also a learned behavior that many are not exposed to. Most important we provided a breakdown of real-life expenses with a look at incomes from college-level employment vs. non-high school graduation wages. This was a great eye-opener for those who had limited motivation to aspire in class.

Real Results

It’s been an amazing few weeks and each young man has truly touched my heart with their efforts and stories. We’ve had a few hard times as well and had to ask some of the men who are just not ready, to leave the program, but overall, Bridge The Gaps is so thankful for the opportunity to reach those who are willing.

We will continue the BAMM program at Bammel Middle School through the end of the school year and are actively looking for additional schools to add to our program for Fall 2023.

If your school is interested and has a need for Behavior, Attitude, Mental, and Mentoring, please contact us!

Thanks for reading!

- Omar Durham