Helping build brighter futures for young men attending Whitesville Road Elementary in Troup County has become a reality, thanks in part to Jerome Cofield. Cofield, a Troup County School System Paraprofessional at WRES, launched what he likes to call ‘Empowerment Wednesday’.

Each Wednesday, male students who are in the program wear a red or blue tie or bow tie, white buttoned-down shirt, and khaki pants. The expression, according to Cofield, is to help students understand what proper attire is when they leave their home. The red or blue tie they wear has become a symbol throughout the Troup County community, and within their group, as a sign of respect and esteem.

“Many of our young men had never worn a tie before. They didn’t know how to tie it. Other men in the community joined me and took on the challenge to help the young boys learn how to properly tie a tie. Now, it has become a symbol of empowerment within the group. The lessons we teach about life skills, behavior, and academics are all about empowerment,” said Cofield.

He said men from the community volunteer on a regular basis and have donated ties to the group as they grew from one to over 50 WRES students.  

Cofied notes Empowerment Wednesday’s didn’t start as a program, “One young man in school came to me and asked me to mentor him. He said he had anger issues and needed help. I didn’t really know the student, but I answered the call to mentor him. He told other kids about our mentoring sessions. Soon after, others asked to join until it just evolved into Empowerment Wednesday’s”

Recently, the group enjoyed a weekend getaway at Camp Pioneer in LaGrange, Georgia. It was dubbed a Father/Son weekend where many of the fathers took time off from work to accompany their child. They enjoyed camping, fishing, swimming in the lake, and barbecuing their catches.

“It was a great way to spend quality time with their sons,” said Cofield.

 This is not the first outing for the group…recalling a field trip to the Atlanta Hawks game where the men wore their attire of khaki pants, white buttoned-down shirts and red bow ties, Cofield laughed while saying, “Everybody wanted to take a picture of these young men who wore bow ties to a basketball game. They felt famous!”

He plans to make the retreat an annual event. The mission of the Whitesville Road Elementary Empowerment Group is to build brighter futures for young men through an exceptional mentoring program to improve academic and social skills. The focus of the group targets academic performance, positive behavior, and social awareness.