DESMOND DELK, A 2005 PARTICIPANT IN THE MAYOR'S YOUTH PROGRAM, IS NOW PURSUING HIS MASTERS DEGREE IN EDUCATION AT AUBURN UNIVERSITY

APRIL 6, 2009

As a senior at Benjamin E. Mays High School in 2005, Desmond Woodruff Delk was involved in a number of school activities. He was as a member of the band, a member of the Student Government Association, an outfielder on the baseball team, and a member of many other clubs and organizations. He was in the top ten percent of his class and his G.P.A. and SAT scores were very competitive. Desmond’s future seemed uncomplicatedly bright, but as he began receiving his college acceptance letters, he realized that many of the offers came without financial assistance. One of these schools was Morehouse College, his top choice. Desmond began to look at his second and third choice colleges, schools that were offering him money and state schools where he could use the HOPE scholarship.

Desmond heard about a new program that was helping graduating seniors from the Atlanta Public School system to prepare for their lives after high school. The program, the Mayor’s Youth Program, had begun in 2005 as an initiative of Mayor Shirley Franklin, to adopt the entire APS senior class and help them to achieve their goals after they graduate from high school. Desmond enrolled in the program and met with Mayor Franklin one on one to discuss his ambitions. After explaining his current situation to her, she informed him that the Mayor’s Youth Program would be able to assist him with funding for his education at Morehouse.

Desmond is now a senior at Morehouse College, majoring in Kinesiology, Sports Studies and Physical Education. During his time at Morehouse, he has participated in several organizations and community service projects that have helped him become a more focused individual. He learned the importance of scholarship, leadership and character, helping him to become an advocate for the uplifting of the city of Atlanta.

At Morehouse College, Desmond became a member of the “House of Funk” Marching Band, and was appointed leader of the Sousaphone section during his senior year. The band allowed him opportunities such as playing in the Los Angeles Coliseum on two occasions and marching in the Mardi Gras Zulu Parade in New Orleans for two consecutive years.  He was appointed President of the James “Pinkie” Haines Society, an organization whose purpose is to express the needs and concerns of the Kinesiology, Sports Studies and Physical Education Department. Annually, they conduct community service projects and a Graduate School Workshop and Health Fair. It was through this organization’s mandatory twenty-five hours of community service each semester, that Desmond discovered his life’s passion. He chose to become a volunteer at F.L. Stanton Elementary school. There, he worked as a mentor, teacher’s aide, soccer coach, referee, and an after-school tutor. Through the many opportunities that Desmond had during his college years, he gained the leadership skills and a community mindset that would eventually lead him to identify teaching as his career goal. During the 2008 summer, Desmond accepted an opportunity to intern as a summer teacher at the Philips Exeter Academy Summer School in Exeter, New Hampshire. He taught physical education classes in the sports of soccer, tennis and lacrosse. He also assisted in overseeing the residential program, was responsible for chaperoning off campus excursions, and was an assistant advisor for the African-American/ Black cultural club.  
                                                           
Desmond is now a graduate student at Auburn University, pursuing his Masters Degree in Physical Education. Desmond credits the Mayor’s Youth Program for not only helping him with the financial assistance he needed to attend Morehouse College, but for becoming the advocate he needed in assisting him to create a plan for his future.  The program gave Desmond the chance to pursue his interests and discover his life’s path.

“I am very thankful for what the Mayor’s Youth Program has given to me, both tangible and intangible. My story of success is just one of many who have been helped by this program. Many of my friends and associates benefit from this program, whether through tuition assistance, a laptop, or even transportation to a far away school. The idea of help through the eyes of Alan Alda shows that no man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness. Because of the Mayor’s Youth Program I am better. I am now in the position to help spread that goodness.” - Desmond Delk