My Brother's Keeper's Day of Excellence features inspiring stories by motivational speakers

Before Demetrius Flores, 18, joined the My Brother’s Keeper chapter at Middle Island's Longwood High School, he was afraid to share his last name.

"One thing that I struggled with was my identity at the end of my junior year, not knowing who I was or being confident in my name," he told Newsday.

Flores, who joined the chapter in his junior year and has since become a MBK fellow, was one of the many students who attended the 2nd Men of Excellence Day on Friday and credited the program for his personal growth and increased confidence.

"I was able to build my confidence up throughout the year, be able to speak in front of large crowds, which I was never able to do before," Flores said of his time with MBK. "Kind of just get to know who I was and be able to use my full name confidently."

The event, which included a student panel, student conversations, and talks from various male figures, is an opportunity for students to highlight things they have achieved and learned throughout the school year, school program manager Elrich Bowlay-Williams said.

"A lot of times, you know, the students come to school ... they go through their rigorous curriculums throughout the year but aren't given the opportunity to express some of the things that they went through," Bowlay-Williams said. "This has given them an opportunity to sit before their peers, speak to their peers in reference to what it is that they've done throughout the year."

The event also allowed students to hear the personal and inspirational stories from motivational speakers Jeremiah Brown and Nate Evans Jr., entrepreneur Daniel Lloyd, basketball trainer Jerry Powell and Longwood alumnus and Olympic wrestler Kerry McCoy.

"Just bringing back some of these people that are able to speak directly to them about things that sometimes our young men have difficulty with, Bowlay-Williams said." You can't be what you can't see, so it's just that they're able to see the light of the end of the tunnel from just being here today and seeing what's going on."

"It's inspiring to see how they were once in my position, and the fact that they came back, and we can see how much they've grown," senior Jeremyh Jean-Baptiste, 18, said. "It inspires me to do the same."

Founded by then-President Barack Obama in 2014, My Brother’s Keeper was created as an initiative to eliminate the opportunity gaps for boys and young men of color.

The Longwood School District has implemented the program for about a decade and has expanded it to serve grades two through 12, as well My Sister’s Keeper, a similar initiative for girls.

At the high school level, MBK members meet once a week to engage in fruitful conversations about current events and personal growth, while learning public speaking and leadership skills.

Bowlay-Williams said high school students are paired with one of 27 participating mentors, or successful male professionals of color.

"Before I joined MBK, I was shy. I didn't really like speaking a lot," Jean-Baptiste, 18, said. "Since joining MBK, my confidence grew, and I'm able to public speak in front of hundreds of people."

The program also partners with local colleges and businesses and often takes educational trips, Bowlay-Williams said.

The Longwood School District is one of 50 recognized chapters in New York State and one of eight on Long Island.

 Assistant Principal Shardae Cunningham said the program extends the amount of support students received, as it aimed to increase graduation and literacy rates for students of color.

"The child who is rejected by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth," Cunningham said. "The way we look at our students, our students who are excelling, our students who are struggling, they all just need one thing: village."