100 men usher Harrisburg students into new school year
Jamar Johnson high fives students at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Harrisburg as part of 100 Men Greeting, August 20, 2018. (Photo: Rachel McDevitt/WITF)
(Harrisburg) — Men from the greater Harrisburg community lined up to welcome students to the first day of school with cheers and high fives Monday morning.
This is the fourth year the Harrisburg School District and the non-profit American Literacy Corporation have teamed up for 100 Men Greeting, an event to show students positive male role models.
Gregory Bowden, a pastor with the First Baptist Church of Steelton, said it makes him glad to see smiles from children and parents alike.
“When I was small, when I was a child, I didn’t have this,” Bowden said. “I didn’t have people coming out and greeting and encouraging. So, it’s in my heart. I love children, just to be around children, and encourage them.”
Bowden joined a state senator, state employees, and local businessmen at Benjamin Franklin Elementary in midtown Harrisburg. In all, men greeted student at ten schools, from elementary to high school.
Chief Academic Officer Jaimie Foster said it’s good for the students to see men from all walks of life participating.
“It helps for everyone to blur the lines and to know that we all started in the same place at some point, which was in a school,” Foster said.
Foster said there are many students who may be missing an encouraging male figure in their life, which is why it’s important children see men from the community supporting them as they arrive for a new school year.
Event co-coordinator Jamar Johnson said the men may come back throughout the school year.
“This is a start of a thing that you can start coming into the school and you can start being active, reading to the children, doing after-school programs. And I think if they see your presence, and you start coming on a more regular basis, that will get them involved to actually want to receive you even more,” Johnson said.
District officials said they will be stressing the importance of attendance this year, and having this show of support from the community at the start helps show students the value of their education.
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