If you want to have successful activities, the students have to come up with the ideas.
--- Ian Sherman, Lincoln High School Principal

Lincoln High School’s My Brother’s Keeper has more than 130 active members -- that’s more than 20 percent of the school’s male students. 

Many of those young men joined the group last month after a wildly popular March Madness “3 on 3” basketball tournament organized by Lincoln's MBK and held on three days starting on a Saturday.  Two college basketball players and Kenneth Stevens, the founder of the famed Dyckman Basketball Tournament, coached the players and held mentoring sessions during game breaks.

 “We didn’t expect that many students to show up, but next thing we knew, the gym was flooded with at least 100 people,” said Robert Bannister, Lincoln’s Safety Officer and MBK Liaison.  

MBK students conceived of, advertised, and set up the event.  A few weeks earlier, the group hosted three NFL players who shared personal stories of overcoming family and financial obstacles to achieve success. The trio included Douglas Hogue, a Roosevelt High School graduate who played for the Detroit Lions and the Carolina Panthers, Jayson Bromley of the New York Giants, and Derrell Smith, who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Houston Texans.  More than 300 people, including Pop Warner youth football players from around the city, attended the inspirational event.

 “If you want to have successful activities, the students have to come up with the ideas,” said Lincoln’s Principal Ian Sherman.

Ideas are plentiful among Lincoln’s MBK brothers.   

In March alone, in addition to the basketball event, the school’s MBK program also hosted a Summer Job Fair for the District with more than 25 employers, and another Career Fair during which Lincoln students had one-on-one interviews with professionals including a lawyer, judge, firefighter, police officer and personal trainer, most of them Yonkers natives.  Students, professionally dressed and with resumes in hand, were encouraged to ask questions to learn about various fields of work. 

Lincoln MBK held a meeting in March called “Straight Talk” during which about 40 young men shared some of their personal challenges, ultimately becoming aware the similarities among them.

The group also hosted a staff appreciation luncheon in March, inviting teachers and other staff members personally, as well as planning and cooking the meal.

Mr. Bannister, a former chef, taught students to cook Chicken Marsala, Lemon Chicken, Southern Roast Pork, Macaroni and Cheese and other dishes. The most popular among guests was a dish the students invented themselves, shrimp in a small glass filled with a horseradish, lime, curry sauce, tomato and red onion mixture.

Lincoln’s MBK program began in the fall with about 20 seniors.  Administrators chose to focus on upperclassmen -- students who could benefit from learning more college, job and life skills before graduating.

“This relates to MBK milestones three and four,” said Lincoln’s Assistant Principal Sandy Hattar, a member of YonkersMBK’s Steering Committee.  (Milestone 3: Ensure all youth graduate from high school. Milestone 4: Ensure all youth complete post-secondary education or training.)

Mr. Bannister, who is also the school’s football coach said he encouraged his players to join MBK, which added another 20 or so.  Then the basketball tournament provided a welcome jump in membership.  

Thomas Gibson, a member of MBK said the school’s program has led him to befriend students from other social groups and grades with whom he might not otherwise interact. “MBK helps us come together as brothers,” he said.

Thomas, an 11^th grader who moved to Yonkers last year from North Carolina credits the program’s support and mentorship with helping him improve his grades.

He is also the Lancer football’s team quarterback.

“I want to be a leader in MBK, on and off the field,” he said.

Thomas has developed such a strong sense of leadership and self-confidence, said Bannister, that he has become like an assistant coach, leading his teammates in stretches and running laps on their own.  

“I haven’t seen anything quite like it in my entire coaching career,” said Mr. Bannister, who has been coaching for more than 30 years.   

Juan Miqui, a Lincoln senior who moved to Yonkers from Harlem three years ago, says he has also gained a sense of leadership from his involvement with MBK.   For example, Juan said he was able to help a younger student with a personal issue by sharing his own similar experiences. He credits the program with inspiring him to make better decisions.  “I used to smoke and then I began to stop and replaced it with football. It’s like a new person came into my body.”

Juan, Thomas and other MBK members painted the school’s weight room on a recent weekend. The bought the paint with money they raised through candy sales and other school-sponsored fundraisers.

When the shade of purple they used for part of the walls didn’t match the school’s, Principal Sherman asked them if they would redo it. “They came back and repainted it, no complaints.”

Being a man means you don’t always do what’s comfortable, Thomas said.

Both Thomas and Juan said they prefer to wear sweatpants and t-shirts. But they’ve learned that making a good first impression is important. They agreed that they enjoy being recognized by teachers and other adults when they look sharp.

Said Juan, “MBK taught us how to brand ourselves.”