(upbeat music) (music swells) (music fades) - Role models.

Hopefully you've been fortunate enough to have one or two good ones in your life.

A role model isn't just someone to look up to.

It's someone who hopefully will take you under their wing.

The Peoria Role Model Project is a new initiative to connect our kids to successful members of the community.

Joining us now is Peoria Mayor Rita Ali and Andy Hendrix, who is a program manager at Caterpillar and a Peoria Role Model.

Thank you both for coming on.

- Thank you, Mark.

- Thank you very much for having us.

- Appreciate it.

Mayor, how did you get this idea and when did the wheels start turning?

- Well, I would say they started turning when I was a kid.

When I was a young kid attending Lee School, I went through all those young grades having some wonderful teachers.

They were all white women who I adored and loved, but I never got a Black teacher until I was in seventh grade and Mrs. Diane Newsom became my teacher.

Mrs. Newsom looked like me.

She was a Black woman.

I identified with her.

And it wasn't until I got in seventh grade and had Mrs. Newsom as a teacher that the wheels started turning and I believed that I could become a teacher also.

So I learned the importance of identification with role models, seeing women in non-traditional roles or leadership roles, seeing African Americans in those types of roles, and I knew the importance of culture and identification to being inspired for your career and in your life.

- So you found someone who you could relate to and that person could relate to you at the same time.

- Absolutely.

And I grew up having, you know, many positive Black role models in my life.

Mrs. Erma Davis, who was the director of George Washington Carver Center, Dr. Romeo B. Garrett, you know, when I became college age, Dr. Barbara Pendleton.

All these people were individuals that I was exposed to.

They were professionals and they were people that I aspired to be like, and they made me a better person.

So I learned the importance of role models in the lives of young Black children.

And then in 2008, at Illinois Central College, I worked to produce a book called "Role Models" that featured 126 African American professionals in many different fields.

- Now, as far as the kids who will benefit from this, are they mostly African American and- - Yes, they are primarily, that live in distressed areas of our city and who may benefit from having a mentor or a positive Black role model in their life.

And so it's a partnership with Peoria Public Schools.

It's also funded by PNC Bank, and that's really how the Role Model initiative got resurrected.

Brian Ray, who's the president of PNC Bank, approached me about a project that would help young kids in the inner city to be inspired to do well in their life.

And so this is the recommendation that came about, and this was the project that got approved by PNC Bank.

So we're very grateful for the funding to help to launch this project.

- And Andy, you've been recruited to be a role model, but this won't be the first time that you've had an impact in kids' lives.

Tell us a little bit about your background.

- Okay.

Yes, as you mentioned, I was honored and recruited by the mayor here and I'm very grateful for that.

I'm originally from North Carolina and I've been in and out of Peoria about 19 1/2 years now.

I've been an employee at Caterpillar ever since then.

I'd say my experience of being a role model is obviously with my kids.

I have two daughters that I love and adore.

I am also a mentor for collegiate students at my alma mater, North Carolina A&T State University.

So we have a program there to where they partner working professionals with engineering collegiate students to kind of get them just an avenue to be able to talk to and be a sounding board for them to help them make decisions as they traverse through their collegiate curriculum.

And I'm also a former big brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program here in the Peoria area.

- Now, when you were a student, did you have a role model?

- I would say yes, I did have role models.

I always personally looked to my parents as role model.

I was the first individual from my family to go to college and graduate, but I didn't use that as, I'd say a crutch or like a disability, so to speak, because my parents were very, very hard workers.

My parents had multiple jobs.

And really seeing them inspired me to have the work ethics and the discipline and the kind of the stick-to-it-ness, if you will, to go forth in an engineering curriculum, graduate, you know, and get a job and be the working professional that I am today.

- A lot of our kids in District 150 do come from disadvantaged areas, maybe broken families, and they may have role models already, but not role models that we are thinking of.

You know, maybe people who take the easy way out, do things they shouldn't do.

When you talk to a a student, how do you convince them that, hey, this is the direction you should be going in life if you wanna be a successful person?

- Well, I think that we give them exposure.

We try to let them know that everything hasn't been easy in our life.

You know, even though it looks like we have these great lives, we have these great careers, we have these great professions, and maybe we're even making good money, that that's a great thing, but we struggle too.

So we try to identify with the students and even in talking to the 100 role models, you know, I've encouraged them to share their narrative, not just their narrative of success, but their narrative of struggle so that students can identify with the struggle that they've been through and maybe the obstacles that they have overcome so that we try to instill hope and positivity.

And like you said, Mark, some of the families have one parent in the household, and that parent may only be a mother, and maybe they don't have the exposure of that positive Black role model or professional in their lives.

But through this initiative, they're exposed to 100, about 50 women, about 50 men role models that they can have access to.

And it's really not just about a one-on-one mentor-mentee relationship.

It's about having exposure to many different individuals in many different career fields that maybe, one, they can identify with I wanna be an engineer like Andy or program manager, but two, maybe I wanna identify with this person or connect with this person because they've been through something that I'm struggling with.

So I think that we kind of sometimes self-select our role models based upon our particular needs or aspirations, and this is the opportunity that we want to give to the youth.

- And, of course, Andy's successful with the program manager and engineering at Caterpillar.

Give us some examples of some of the other people that you've recruited, what walks of life they come from, maybe places they work, things like that.

- Sure, there's so many examples.

We have judges.

We have a judge.

We have people who are attorneys, we have individuals, there's one individual who is a manager at Walmart and has done that for a very long time.

One is a manager at Dollar Tree and has done that for probably two years, but has overcome cancer in her life, overcome a lot of obstacles in her life.

There are individuals who are in the education field, both higher education and K-12.

There are information technology specialists.

One individual is a code enforcement.

We have police and fire personnel who are part of our Role Model program.

Again, 100 role models.

The first 50 are actually posted.

Their profile, their picture is on the Peoria City website under the Mayor's Office.

So peoriagov.org and you would click on the Mayor's Office and you would be able to identify or be able to click on the profiles of both men and women and read their story.

So we want that exposure to all students and all young people and adults as well in Peoria to be able to, you know, just go through and see who these individuals are, and maybe you want to get to know or want your child to get to know one or more of them better.

So the first 50 are posted, and then the second 50 should be posted before Thanksgiving.

- Okay.

When we talk about success, I think a lot of people, maybe even kids, they instantly think money.

We know now as adults, there's more to success than that.

Andy, when you're talking to a kid maybe who's had some issues or is going down the wrong path, what do you say to them to convince them to take a different path, to, you know, maybe go to college, maybe not go to college, it's not for everybody, but just to be successful and happy in life?

What do you say to them?

- Well, I'm glad you asked that question, Mark.

For me, success can come in many different forms.

Like you said, it could be financial, it could be happiness, it could be doing something that you're passionate about, but in a very constructive and positive manner.

So I'd say when mentees or students or even adults come to me, I really try not to give answers, right?

Because every individual is different.

So I really just try to really be an active listener and listen to them.

You know, what do they have to say?

What are their experiences?

And then we work together as a, I say collective unit, to say, what are some potential options or avenues that you could go down as you kind of continue to write or understand what your definition of success is?

And that's the one thing that I've personally come across, is sometimes people have this misconception that success is only one thing, or that success is, you know, it's just a snapshot in time, so to speak.

Because success could be different all through, I say throughout your life, because as you through certain ages or certain experiences in your life, you know, life I view as, like, kind of step by step, right?

So the success that you achieve at this level may not be the success that you achieve 10 to 15 years from now.

So again, just being able to listen and lay out and clearly defining, okay, what does success look like for that individual?

And then I think once we get a good understanding of what success looks like for that individual, then we start talking through what are some of the avenues, what are some of the paths, and what are some of the things, the experience, the exposure that you need to get or a skillset that you need to develop to get there?

And then as the mayor said, not just having one person, but being able to connect these individuals with others that look like them, that share some of the similar experiences, to know so that they can see success is possible.

And not only is success possible, but I can do it because he did it, because she did it, because they did it, and we did it.

- Yeah, sometimes success, I think for a lot of these kids, maybe just a stable home.

You get to that point and then you say, okay, now I've got another goal to shoot for after that.

Mayor, how important is it to, not just these kids and their families, but for the community as a whole to make sure these kids are safe and happy and have whatever kind of success that they deem success?

- Sure.

It's essential.

I mean, we have to use the village approach, that, you know, when I grew up, neighbors were looking out after neighbors, and if I did something wrong, my parents are gonna probably find out about it before I get home.

And I think we have to try to work like that collectively again to make sure our children are safe, that we're putting them in the company of people that want to see them do well and want to make sure that they're protected.

So, you know, with this initiative, and I was meeting with Marcellus Somerville just yesterday, and he's one of the individuals also in our Role Model program.

He was a very successful sports person, a player, basketball player, well-known really all over the country, but now he's the executive director or CEO at Peoria Friendship House.

But he told me a story I had never known before, that when he was 12 years old he ran away from home.

You know, that he was a single parent household and his mother was working all the time, and he had to take on much responsibility for the family and he became overwhelmed by it.

Well, that really touched me, but he tells that story to other young people and they light up and they engage with it and they connect with it.

So I think it's so important that we really tell about our failures in life and not just our successes so that the students can connect with that and identify with it.

And then you talk about how you overcame and you got through it, you know, to give them some hope and inspiration.

And that's what this is really about, is making connections, telling those narratives, telling those testimonies and those stories to help to give hope and inspiration to the young people that we have.

When we look at some of the things that are happening in our community and we see, you know, some of kids getting involved in car thefts, kids carrying guns, sometimes getting involved in some homicides or some shootings.

And we know when we look at the statistics that about 98% are young Black youth that are involved, many times male, but sometimes female.

And you look at the homicides, and who are they?

Many times they're young Black youth, mostly male, but sometimes female.

And so this is one of the reasons why we need the positive exposure to positive role models in the community and amongst the youth that we're targeting within the inner city.

So people say why.

Well, this is why.

We want to add the positivity and the positive narratives to try to change the narrative and give hope and opportunity to these young people.

We just had our first really big event for the Role Model Project last Friday when the Peoria Civic Center offered the Black Violin event that featured two Black violinists that travel all over the world.

And they've made the violin their success, they're passionate about it, but they did it in a way that was, it was a concert and it was fun and it was exciting.

And I was so proud to see so many role models with the youth that are involved in this project, and they were just jumping up and down and they were so happy and it was just a great event, and there's many of them.

And I took two of the youth, one that attended Trewyn, one Glen Oak school, and they were like, "What's next?

When can we get together again?"

- So they want alternatives.

- Yes.

- I think, you know, behind every headline there's a story.

A kid didn't leave the house and decide today, "Oh, I'm just gonna steal a car, shoot someone."

- Yeah, right.

- They want alternatives.

Andy, have you ever had a moment when you've been a mentor where maybe were with a student who didn't feel like they had a lot going on, didn't have a lot of hope, and then all of a sudden one day the light bulb kind of goes off and they realize, "Hey, I can have a different future"?

- I would say yes, I've had that experience.

And for me it was being able to, as I mentioned earlier, being able to show and highlight what are alternatives, what are things that you can do, and really try to remain positive and allow them to have a positive outlook on themselves.

Again, the journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step, right?

So being able to really position that individual to say what is the first step and then what is the next step.

And then at some point, like you said, that light bulb went off in their mind and it's like, "Wow, okay, I can do this," and they start to build a little confidence in themself.

And not only do they have the confidence, but now they've been connected, you know, with me as the mentor.

So they kind of have that lighthouse or that beacon of hope that says, I see what is before me and what is possible.

I have now generated some self-confidence.

So I will just continue to work, continue to work, continue to work to get to my ultimate end goal.

And to me, I think that is one the greatest pieces or the greatest essence of this program, is being able to have so many individuals that these students can tap into.

Because we know that they're inundated with social media and other devices these days.

And I think a lot of times they see the finished product.

So they see the TikTok videos and they see people receiving awards and all the money, but they don't sometimes get to see about, well, hey, I had two businesses that failed before I had a successful business.

Hey, I missed 100 jump shots before I started making this jump shot.

Or, you know, I had 10 songs that flopped because no one wanted to buy them, it didn't sound good before I actually became a successful recording artist or something.

So being able to have those very genuine, authentic kind of one-on-one moments, I think to me that's one of the key pieces of the very powerful things that the students in the Peoria area and adults alike will now get access to.

- Mayor, it'd be great if, you know, this program gets going and we could see eventually the mentees themselves become mentors.

- Absolutely.

I'm one of those kids who've had, you know, it was informal, it wasn't a formal program, but in my head, I still hear those words of advice from the mentors that I had, you know, growing up as a kid, as a teenager, and then as a young adult.

They're still here with me.

Many of them have passed on, but their messages and their guidance, their advice, it's still with me.

- Well, again, the Peoria Role Model Project, you said you do have enough role models right now, but you're still looking for some kids that wanna be a part of the program.

If there's a parent, a friend of the family watching this, what's the best way for them to get a student involved?

- So 100 for this year, 100 role models, and we've reached that goal.

We're looking for 150 youth grades 5th through 12th.

So no younger than 5th grade, 5th grade through 12th, a student at Peoria Public Schools, and preferably lives in a distressed area and has a need or can benefit from having positive role models within their life.

So they would contact the Mayor's Office and just let us know of their interests.

Or they can even contact their school, their principal or their counselor, and let them know that they're interested and they would pass that information on to us.

- Have you had teachers, counselors, people from the school district say, "Hey, I know exactly who could benefit from this"?

- Yes, so we've already had referrals, mostly from the middle schools, like Trewyn and Glen Oak schools.

Several other mostly middle schools or K-8.

And we're working of course with the high schools as well.

All the high school principals are part of the Role Model initiative within Peoria Public Schools.

So the schools are very engaged and they're making recommendations.

We have 75, we're looking for 75 more students.

- Okay, well I'm sure they're out there.

We hope you get to them and hope this program's successful.

- Thank you very much.

- Mayor Ali, Andy Hendrix, thanks for your time and best of luck.

- Thank you, Mark.

- Thank you.

We're excited.

- And Phil Luciano joins us now on set.

This Role Model Project, I know there's nothing like this when I was a kid, but boy, times have changed too since you and I were in school and these kids are facing a lot more than we had to face.

- You know, we recently did a couple of ad issues on the difficulties at District 150 at Peoria Public Schools about academic performance, but it's so tied to what goes on at home, right?

And you hear from some people here and there, it's like, "Well, when I was young, da, da, da, the school did this, they made kids do it, da, da, da, da."

And I don't think a lot of people realize, and this is what the mayor and the mentor were talking about, that some of these situations are there's no one to look up to.

There's nothing like that going on in their lives.

They don't see anyone just doing okay, let alone doing great.

Like you said, when we were young, maybe we didn't have mentorship programs, but at least like in my neighborhood, we saw dads who would go to work, they'd come home, they'd be at home, maybe they'd be working on cars, maybe they'd be playing catch with kids.

But they were there, it was this responsibility cycle, so at least we saw that.

And you don't get that in some areas, and it causes a lot of trouble for kids if they can't see that good stuff happening.

- What was your average class size?

Do you remember in grade school?

- It was maybe like 20 or so.

It's a lot bigger now.

- It sure is, that's for sure.

We had a lot more one-on-one interaction I think with our teachers.

Well, good luck to you at the Peoria Role Model Project.

Up next we've got "You Gotta See This!"

- This is one of my favorite "You Gotta See This!"

of all time, 'cause there's so much stuff going on.

We've got a local group.

Follow me here, I'm gonna bounce real fast.

- Okay.

- A local group, a new group, it wants to give haircuts, complimentary haircuts to any veteran who wants them, any time, anywhere.

Not just Peoria, they wanna go national, and they're starting to get there really fast.

So that's really cool, especially with Veterans Day coming up.

We've also got a story by you about one of our favorite wrestlers of all time, Andre the Giant.

What's that about?

Tell 'em, this is crazy!

- I'll tell you what, Andre the Giant, pop culture icon, actor, everything.

So locally, there's a gentleman who has the largest collection of Andre the Giant memorabilia in the country outside of the Andre Museum in North Carolina.

This guy's got everything, and I gotta tell you, I was giddy when I was shooting it.

I was like, wow, look at all this history!

Even if you're not a wrestling fan, it's so interesting all the stuff he has.

- And how he got it.

It's crazy.

- Yep.

- And a couple other things, and there's a whole bunch of stuff, but just two more.

One, we got a story about a company that if you need to have weeds and noxious plants removed from your property and you can't get your lawnmower in there, goats.

Rent a goat, and it works.

It's crazy.

- Okay.

- And also tomorrow is one of our favorite national days, National Sandwich Day.

We will take you to some places in around Peoria with unique sandwiches.

In other words, you can't get these any place else.

- All right, sounds like a good episode.

"You Gotta See This!"

on in just a few minutes.

Thanks for joining us.

We'll catch you at WTVP on Facebook and wtvp.org.

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