Johnston Square 

Mentoring Partnership Essay Contest

Sponsored by ChickenBones: A Journal

Winners

Dayona Wiggins, Jasmine R. Dorsey, Derek Deford

First Prize Winner

Planting the Seeds for the Future

By Dayona Wiggins

Farmers often plant their crops in the spring so that it will be harvested by the summer. The mentors at Johnston Square are also planting seeds of knowledge that will also help students grow.

The mentors that come to Johnston Square, to help our teachers, mostly came to Mr. Byran’s class. When the mentors came to our class, they did a lot of things to help the students learn. One mentor named Mr. Shortridge came and gave prizes to the students who knew their multiplication tables the most. Mr. Shortridge also took our class to the City Jail to see what it was like to be locked in a cell and what it was like to be in jail for good.

There was also another mentor named Ms. Harvey who tried to help us to develop seeds of knowledge. Ms. Harvey came in and helped Mr. Bryan with the class. Ms. Harvey was a mentor who worked at the City Jail. When Ms. Harvey came to our class she helped pass out papers and helped Mr. Byran go over class work. Ms. Harvey would take small groups of students and work with them to help them understand their work.

Ms. Harvey also came with other men to watch and see how the class was doing when Mr. Bryan was out for a day. By the end of the day everybody in my class wanted Ms. Harvey as a teacher because she was very thoughtful and easy to learn from.

I learned that when people try to help you with things, you should pay attention and listen. I learned a lot of things from when our class went on the trip to the City Jail. I learned that you should stay in school and try to get an education. I also learned that if you ever end up in jail some of the inmates will try to kill you or hurt you. I found out that jail isn’t a good place to be.

I think that the slogan “Planting Seeds for the Future” would be a good theme for the mentors because the mentors at Johnston Square are planting educational seeds so the students at Johnston Square will be successful at life.

Second Place Winner

Working to Produce Successful Adults

By Jasmine R. Dorsey

There is a great need for positive adults to help students at Johnston Square. Many Correctional Officers spend some of their free time helping students to learn. There are two mentors that help my class learn more. There names are Mrs. Harvey and Mr. Shortridge. They teach us how to learn math better. When they come into my classroom, we were not very good at math. Mrs. Harvey took small groups during different subjects and she helped us with things we had trouble with. Mr. Shortridge gave prizes, did fun activities during math, and came to my class on his spare time to help us learn.

The way the mentors helped me and my classmates was very thoughtful of them. I like that very much. I like it because if we didn’t have some of the teaching they gave us, we would be a little off the right path of learning, I also want to thank them a lot. They made me happy that they helped my school and me to learn.

There are many different mentors. There is Mr. Shortridge, Mrs. Harvey, Mr. Larry, Mr. Brad, Ms. Heather, and Ms. Rachel. There are more but I really don’t know them or their  names. I thank all of you for what you have done. 

All the students at Johnston Square would be fortunate to have a mentor from the Detention Center and B.U.G.S. after school program because they are every positive role models. They are concerned that we learn as much as we can so that we will be successful in life.

The slogan “Working to Produce Successful Adults” should be the new slogan because the mentors are working to prepare us for the future.

Third Place Winner

Treat Other The Way You Want to be Treated

By Derek Deford

We should have a “Treat Others the Way You Want to Be Treated” theme so that people won’t fight. We can treat people differently. We don't want  to have any confusion. We don’t need to start trouble. Nobody need fight.

If we didn’t treat people right we will have violence. We need to treat people right so that we will not have problems. We can bring peace.

Imagine a world that has peace without violence. We can have peace if we treat people right. We will not fight.

Honorable Mention

Photo below: Keith "Bilal" Shortridge and other mentors with award-winning students of Johnston Square.