Change this boys life forever!
Donation protected
Meet J'Twan (JT) Manning! We met JT six years ago when he was 8. I (Randy) was assigned to him as a mentor at Preston Taylor Ministries in Nashville, a faith-based, nondenominational inner-city ministry for at-risk kids and teens. Over the years we’ve come to love him as our own. He is a sweet kid with a big heart! He possesses excellent social skills, and is very positive and pliable at this time in his life. Most importantly, he has demonstrated incredible courage to trust us and make some hard decisions, courage well beyond that of a normal fourteen year old. We became his guardians last year knowing he was faced with some real educational deficits from prior school experience and we are resolute in our determination to steer this young man toward success.
He just completed 30 days of summer camp at Marine Military Academy(MMA) in Harlingen, TX. This was a difficult decision for us because we knew he had no personal context with this experience. We just knew he needed structure, strong men to lead him and to show him that with great effort comes great reward. Both of us were nervous about the outcome knowing that if he didn’t “let it in”, it could be disastrous. As you might expect, his early letters were messages of despair:
“I know you all thought this was going to be good for me, but its not for me! I need you to come and take me home.”
“I will not make it! Please come and get me!"
In the middle of the 3rd week something changed. I got a call from one of the school administrators. He said that JT was telling him he might like to attend school there in the fall. Shocked, I asked, "How much?" he said the tuition is $42,900 a year, but he thought there was interest in getting most of that covered by grants and donors.
We were shocked! He LOVED it!! We were just glad camp was a success... but now so much more to consider for JT.
We flew out to pick him up a week later. He was so proud introducing us to all of his new friends & brothers from all over the world, literally!! He, along with all the other boys were so sad to be leaving, but glad to see their families. They were so conflicted. It was visceral.
We started with simple questions: scale 1-10? He gave it an 8.5. Did he want to come back next summer? He said “maybe”. Do you want to go to school here? He said “I don’t want to make any big decisions right now.”
To us, the fact that he was even interested was stunning, but we decided to just let it ride and wait. A few days later, my wife was in the car with him and out of nowhere, he said,
“100% go to college”.
She said, “I know.”
The next day, he told both of us, “I really want to go to MMA. It’s my best shot.”
We couldn't be happier with the impact this has had on him. The camp definitely evoked a passion and sense of purpose in him that we had not yet seen. Since he's been back he's been marching to and from the car reciting facts such as, "100% get into college" and "I can increase my rank when I go to school there"!
He's currently scheduled to repeat the 8th grade in Nashville and upon re-enrollment we learned kids who repeat a grade are ineligible for all school sports. This was another blow, as we know how important school sports can be by building confidence, maturity, and developing organizational capability.
At MMA he loved the structure, discipline, expectations, encouragement and the brotherhood.
JT makes 10 friends in five minutes wherever he goes. He is unusually empathetic and stood by his fellow cadets when homesickness overwhelmed them. We believe that’s why he stood out to MMA staff. They have offered him a scholarship that will cover almost 1/2 the tuition for the year but the $42,900 obligation along with travel is too heavy for us. There is at least one donor that has promised an increase in their commitment if JT’s grades improve and he begins to thrive.
The class sizes are small, they have private teacher tutoring and you heard it from JT first, " 100% get into college"!
We love this great soul and duty-bound to prepare him for life. Our time with him is short to make a lasting impact. We believe this opportunity at MMA will change the trajectory of his life and for generations to come!
To Family, friends and to those for whom this resonates...Please get on board and join us in changing a life forever!
He just completed 30 days of summer camp at Marine Military Academy(MMA) in Harlingen, TX. This was a difficult decision for us because we knew he had no personal context with this experience. We just knew he needed structure, strong men to lead him and to show him that with great effort comes great reward. Both of us were nervous about the outcome knowing that if he didn’t “let it in”, it could be disastrous. As you might expect, his early letters were messages of despair:
“I know you all thought this was going to be good for me, but its not for me! I need you to come and take me home.”
“I will not make it! Please come and get me!"
In the middle of the 3rd week something changed. I got a call from one of the school administrators. He said that JT was telling him he might like to attend school there in the fall. Shocked, I asked, "How much?" he said the tuition is $42,900 a year, but he thought there was interest in getting most of that covered by grants and donors.
We were shocked! He LOVED it!! We were just glad camp was a success... but now so much more to consider for JT.
We flew out to pick him up a week later. He was so proud introducing us to all of his new friends & brothers from all over the world, literally!! He, along with all the other boys were so sad to be leaving, but glad to see their families. They were so conflicted. It was visceral.
We started with simple questions: scale 1-10? He gave it an 8.5. Did he want to come back next summer? He said “maybe”. Do you want to go to school here? He said “I don’t want to make any big decisions right now.”
To us, the fact that he was even interested was stunning, but we decided to just let it ride and wait. A few days later, my wife was in the car with him and out of nowhere, he said,
“100% go to college”.
She said, “I know.”
The next day, he told both of us, “I really want to go to MMA. It’s my best shot.”
We couldn't be happier with the impact this has had on him. The camp definitely evoked a passion and sense of purpose in him that we had not yet seen. Since he's been back he's been marching to and from the car reciting facts such as, "100% get into college" and "I can increase my rank when I go to school there"!
He's currently scheduled to repeat the 8th grade in Nashville and upon re-enrollment we learned kids who repeat a grade are ineligible for all school sports. This was another blow, as we know how important school sports can be by building confidence, maturity, and developing organizational capability.
At MMA he loved the structure, discipline, expectations, encouragement and the brotherhood.
JT makes 10 friends in five minutes wherever he goes. He is unusually empathetic and stood by his fellow cadets when homesickness overwhelmed them. We believe that’s why he stood out to MMA staff. They have offered him a scholarship that will cover almost 1/2 the tuition for the year but the $42,900 obligation along with travel is too heavy for us. There is at least one donor that has promised an increase in their commitment if JT’s grades improve and he begins to thrive.
The class sizes are small, they have private teacher tutoring and you heard it from JT first, " 100% get into college"!
We love this great soul and duty-bound to prepare him for life. Our time with him is short to make a lasting impact. We believe this opportunity at MMA will change the trajectory of his life and for generations to come!
To Family, friends and to those for whom this resonates...Please get on board and join us in changing a life forever!
Organizer
Jenny Holland
Organizer
Nashville, TN