By Akeem Blake,
Mentor

I am Akeem Blake and I am currently a financial analyst at Boeing. I am also a Morehouse College 2011 graduate. And I am a mentor with Communities in Schools of Renton.

I mentor because growing up with a single mother, I had a mentor in my early years. I did not have a consistent male in my life and having a guy who checked up on me changed me as a child.

My mentor gave me confidence. I knew I could do it because of that second opinion he gave to me. I always got encouragement from my mom, but thought that parents are supposed to tell you that stuff. A mentor can give it to you raw. They can tell you to get your stuff together.

My mentor could see the potential that I had and could lead me to action. I remember him saying, “Akeem, you really can do it. Akeem, you are smart.” Then when I accomplished what I set out to do, I believed more in myself.

I love mentoring with Communities In Schools of Renton and I want to give back because somebody did that for me. Once a week, for an hour, I mentor a third-grade boy at Bryn Mawr Elementary, which is in the Renton School District.

I like learning my mentee’s story and mentoring is something I really look forward to. I didn’t expect to look forward to seeing him as much as I do. My mentee and I have been meeting since April of last year and in that time, my mentee has just bloomed. I see a big difference in his attitude.

He reminds me of me at that age.

In December we worked on dribbling a basketball and he was mad because he couldn’t figure out the between-the-legs dribble. So we worked on that and I told him “Can’t isn’t in a man’s vocabulary.”

I know he can work hard and he did. When we came back from the school break in January, he was so excited to show me how he can dribble now.

My favorite part of our hour together is when I first see him come into the school office. He has a big smile on his face and he is excited and ready to go. It makes me feel really good that he’s so excited to tell me about his week.

I would encourage other men be a mentor with Communities In Schools of Renton. It’s just about giving your time. You can make someone’s life better.

Take it from me; a few simple interactions with a child can change everything in their life.

To find out how you can get involved in the Communities in Schools Mentor Program call Mara Fiksdal at 425-430-6659 or email mfiksdal@rentonwa.gov

Mara Fiksdal’s phone number has been corrected in this article. We apologize for the inaccuracy.