Long neckties of plaid and paisley flooded the room of Greenfield Intermediate School, and nearly two dozen 11- and 12-year-old boys concentrated on learning how to tie the fabric for the first time.
It was a lesson in both patience and puns, as teachers – male role models volunteering with the Cougars of Character Club– joked with the boys and encouraged them to keep trying.
The Cougars of Character Club launched this school year as a way to teach life skills, integrity and service to tweens learning about becoming young men. They learned how to jump start a car when a teacher was stranded at the GIS parking lot; they raked leaves for neighbors near the school; and they shot plenty of hoops as a way to build teamwork.
Fifth grade teacher Austin Graddy leads the club, which he says has been a year of service projects and fun, culminating with a dance Friday that honored moms and female role models.
Tying neckties two weeks ago was one of the many steps in preparing for the dance.
“Mr. Graddy, this is hard!” one fifth grader whined to Graddy.
“Dude, I get it,” Graddy replied. “I’m 28 and I still don’t get it sometimes. I’m still learning.”
Other volunteers that day were Assistant Principal Patrick Crouch and teacher Nathan Lutterman, who mixed humor with encouragement and even kicked off a tying contest to see who was fastest.
“The only reason we do it right, is because we do it wrong 150 times,” Lutterman told the boys. “You think it’s funny, but it’s knot.”
Fifth graders Paxton Sharritts, Landon Cole and Watler Gordon said they’ve enjoyed the club this year. It’s a great way to spend time with friends after school and learn something new.
Mr. Graddy is funny and kind, they said, and he’s often referred to as “Graddy Daddy” because he’s expecting his first child.
“He’s someone you can look up to,” Landon said.
The dance, which kicked off with a dinner for the boys club and their moms, also raised money for Riley Hospital for Children. The biggest gift the boys said they wanted to give their moms: “Time.”
“Our moms have to work and we have to be at school– this can be a time where we can hang out for fun,” Walter said.
“They work so hard and give us everything we need,” Landon said.
“And more!” Walter added.
Walter’s mom Caitlin Gordon is already seeing sweet, simple improvements in her son’s character. Since Gordon is also a teacher at GIS, her youngest son Jacob, a second grader, also attends the Cougars of Character club.
“I think the club has done a really great job helping the boys learn about life skills, like jumping a car but also how to be helpful at home and in the community. They raked leaves at surrounding houses of GIS this past fall, and personally our two have wanted to help out around the house more,” Gordon said. “My mom noticed them opening doors for people more, and appreciated the emphasis of being good citizens and leaders.”
While GIS is wrapping up its final year due to the combining of intermediate schools, Principal Bronson Curtis is proud of the new club and wants to see it thrive next year at Maxwell Intermediate School.
The club is parallel to Girls on the Run, which helps young female students build confidence through a common goal. This group, he said, helps build boys into servant leaders.
Curtis says GC wants students to learn about service, and Mr. Graddy has gone above and beyond with this club.
“He has prepared presentations and activities the teach the importance of service, but when he takes the group out to the surrounding homes and rakes leaves, or when a staff members battery is dead and he uses that as a teachable moment for a life skill and demonstrating the importance of helping others, that really drives the messages to students,” Curtis said. “When the adults they are helping show their gratitude, he points out to them how helping others is so important. That is just as valuable as any reading or math lesson.”
Graddy said he knew he wanted to start some kind of club at the beginning of the school year, but didn’t know what it would look like. When some of his male students told him they wanted something similar to Girls on the Run, it clicked that he should start a boys club.
He thought about what he would have wanted as an 11-year-old.
“My biggest mentors growing up were my Dad, my Grandpa, and my Papaw. I’ve learned so many things from all three of those men,” Graddy said. “The ones I hold dearest to me though are kindness, hard work, and helping others. My biggest thing that I just want these boys to learn is how to overall be good people. I tell them, as well as my students, that if they are leaving my room trying to improve themselves and help others, then I am doing my job right.”
The boys loved service projects of raking leaves in the fall; and helping their gym teacher get her car started. They even took a field trip to Greenfield-Central High School, where they toured the school’s broadcasting class and held mock interviews on camera.
This spring, some of the boys were talking about how they’ve seen plenty of daddy-daughter dances but there isn’t much for boys and their moms.
The Ladies and Lads Dance was two days before Mother’s Day, and a chance for moms to feel loved and appreciated.
“The boys really understand why this matters,” Graddy said. “Whether they realize it or not, they are surrounded by important women in their lives and if we can learn things such as respect and being chivalrous at an age where most of them are only sons, grandsons, and nephews; when they eventually turn into husbands, uncles, and fathers, they will have a better understanding of why we want to respect and project our women that we love.”
Graddy is grateful for the support of Curtis and parent volunteers who helped make it happen. He hopes it can become an annual tradition, and maybe one that can be open to even more schools and age groups.
“My biggest hope for the boys is that they can go home every day a better person than they were yesterday.”
By Maribeth Vaughn
Austin Graddy said, “My biggest hope for the boys is that they can go home every day a better person than they were yesterday.”