300 Cans of Soda

A few months ago I saw on Facebook that the students at Roosevelt High School were reaching out to the community for help and hosting a downhill meeting at Boyle Heights City Hall. The school lacked leadership and student pride. RHS went through a major administrative reorganization in the last few years and a new principle was going to be hired in the coming months. During the meeting Ashley and I knew we had to do something to help these students and the school. We kept in touch with a teacher, as well as some students, and waited for an opportunity.

August 10, 30 community members, including myself, received an email from the ASB President Kimberly Ortega asking for help with a student-organized event called “Sports Night”. Here was an opportunity! We signed up to buy 300 cans of soda for “Sports Night” and let her know we would be available to chaperone.

Sports Night was great! There were mini tournaments for soccer, basketball, ping-pong. Some students danced to some games on the Wii and others sang along to karaoke. Myself, Ashley and several student leaders were at the food booth handing out hot dogs, water and soda. Getting to know some of the student leaders was such a blessing. These young men and women want to make a difference in their school and community. They want to change the world! We were also able to meet several teachers, the principle, and the custodian, who is an amazing ping-pong coach.

After Sports Night, Ashley and I talked about the need of Roosevelt High School students to have good adult mentors in their lives. There were 150-200 students at the event, but I only noticed about 10 adults. How is that ok? We adults need to step up and serve our young leaders (There is so much I can say about that, but I’ll leave it for another blog). We also talked about how some of the students have great dreams, but they need to be encouraged, which goes back to needing mentors.

The last shocking thing I noticed was a high majority of those involved in student leadership were female. Probably around 90%. There could have been some guys that weren’t there or didn’t help in areas that I wouldn’t notice them in, but if that were true there would still be a high majority of young ladies. Don’t get me wrong, women in leadership is great! My wife is a natural leader. Without her, there would be no Orphan City Church. But when we see mostly men or mostly women in leadership we should question why that is and what structures form that. I would guess these young women are leaders because their mom’s are leading their homes. 40% of children in Boyle Heights are raised by single parents, and 3/4 of those single parents are moms. Seeing their moms lead their homes helps these young women picture themselves are leaders. The opposite may be true as well. If young men do not see their fathers leading at home, they might be less likely to see themselves as leaders out in the world. If this is true, we need to model leadership in the students lives with both men and women so everyone can see there is a place for them at the table. This is something that should be studied and prayed about more

I do know this, God is doing something at Roosevelt High School and in Boyle Heights. We want to join Him.