SYNERGY - Juneteenth 2022

CHRIS REID

Story By: Jen Hunsaker

Chris Reid is the type of educator every parent wants their child to have. He’s devoted, loves all the kids he teaches, and is determined to give back to a community that’s given him so much. After returning home to take care of his parents, he started teaching and fell in love. But he knew kids needed more time than what he was able to give in the classroom.

Distinguished Gentlemen was born out of that need. It’s a unique, after school program for boys in the 4th and 5th grade. The program focuses on boys that tend to be left out and gives them a taste of what’s possible. “It’s for students who don’t always get it right, but are committed to trying and doing the hard work. The boys need to maintain their GPA and behave.”

In return, Reid takes them to nice restaurants, college tours, walks them through etiquette lessons, arranges speakers from different trades and professions or experiences—“advice from a fellow traveler”—and leads them through discussions of what it means to be a gentleman. Reid calls it seed planting. Many of the boys he works with only see life through one type of lens—poverty, violence, addiction—Distinguished Gentlemen gives the boys a glimpse into a life they can absolutely create for themselves.

Reid can recall any number of conversations or happenings that he can tell are making a difference. One young man was having behavioral problems in school. He also had holes in his clothes and wasn’t sure what shoe size he wore because the ones he wore weren’t his. “I could tell this was wearing on him, so I took him shopping at the mall with some of my own money. He walks with his head up now and doesn’t have any behavior problems because when you look good, you feel good, and you do good.”

On Wednesdays, Reid checks on the boys in the middle school. He’ll see them at school and check on their grades to make sure they’re staying on track. The kids have his number and they call him when they can’t talk to their parents. The relationship between himself and their parents is so vital. Reid describes it as almost more co-parenting than parent-teacher, sometimes counseling between each other.

Reid is telling these boys that he believes in them and that he’s in it for the long haul if they are. He helps them change their outlook and their belief in themselves. “Let the naysayers speak,” he tells the boys, “you do the hard work.”

Reid would like to see this in other schools throughout the district. It’s inspiring to imagine hundreds of young gentlemen leaving their stamp on the world.