Good for our kids and another reason to be thankful Terry Jackson is back involved with the program.Former Florida football player Terry Jackson, longtime Gainesville resident Albert E. White and 18 other black community members had been meeting for nearly six months grappling with the issue of rising crime and dropout rates among black youth.
As members of the African-American Accountability Alliance, the group was searching for a way to reach youngsters at an early age and provide a positive influence. But developing a concrete plan proved difficult until Jackson mentioned the concept to Florida football coach Urban Meyer.
"We met with Coach Meyer and it immediately got on the fast track," said White, who has mentored children for 25 years.
The plan has become reality. Fifteen at-risk middle school boys have each been paired with one Florida football player and one black male community leader (and Meyer) to form a mentoring program that organizers hope will help the athletes and the children.
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Among the players are tight end Aaron Hernandez; backup quarterback Cameron Newton; running backs Brandon James, Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody; safety Joe Haden; and offensive linemen John Curtis and Michael and Maurkice Pouncey. Eventually, they hope to expand. Meyer said he could have chosen veterans such as quarterback Tim Tebow, but he wanted younger players who'll benefit from the discipline involved in keeping up with their young partners.
"To have Tim or some of these other kids, I don't know how much (it would help)," Meyer said. "But some of the young kids we picked, they need that kind of responsibility. It's been a real positive. All these young people need to learn to make the right choices. So what better way than using the role models in this town, which are our football players, and let them get with some at-risk kids? So it's been tremendous."
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