HARKER HEIGHTS, Texas — Christmas cheer has a local youth group singing tunes of joy in Central Texas on Wednesday.
The 'Boys 2 Men' Academy gathered at the Indian Oaks Living Center to belt out Christmas carols and hand out goodie bags to the men and women who live there. Nolan Middle School Teacher of the Year Arnold Murphy said its important to teach the youth to spread joy.
" I was talking to the kids earlier today with a quote from Elf ( 2003 holiday movie), telling them you know the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."
And singing for all to hear is what they did. The guys sang songs, like Rudolph the "Red Nose Reindeer", "Santa's Coming to Town" and "Frosty the Snowman", receiving several smiles.
Timothy Pierce and Martay Pagan are also educators who co-founded the young male mentorship group with Murphy. They said teaching the youth to spend time with older adults is valuable.
"Having these kids here is a great way for them to see what's going on with older people," Pierce said. "I think older people seeing some young energetic faces is healthy for the soul."
In addition to acts of kindness, the 'Boys 2 Men' program aims to build boys into men by instilling values like self-care, scholarship and community service.
"Growing into adulthood, we assume kids learn a lot of things and sometimes they just don't, " Martay Pagan said. "It helps to have people who have been there done that, been in your shoes to show you this is another way to do things, a positive way to do things."
The mentorship group is planning to do more community events and offer learning opportunities for the young gentlemen. They hope the program at Nolan Middle School can be implemented in more schools within Killeen ISD in the future.