Latoya Cooley of Belton spun around on the stage Saturday night and swayed side to side with her son, Jaylen Stowers, at the 12th annual Young Esquire Beautillion event. Cooley was proud of all her son had accomplished.
"It was a great experience. It made me feel like he was growing up," she said. "His confidence is better. He used to be shy, but now he can talk to anyone. He wants to strive further in education. Being around the other guys (in the Young Esquire program), it makes him want to do more."
The event concluded this year's Young Esquire program. Several members of the Kappa Gamma Gamma chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. started the program to help male, African-American high school students earn scholarships for college and learn about life skills and the importance of a higher education.
"Knowing that African-American men are at risk these days, we reach back to them," said program co-founder Lawerence "Butch" Green. "They're learning they have to work hard. They are learning to communicate. Those are some of the things we're trying to teach them through mentoring and giving back to the community."
Through the program, the students learned to follow their academic dreams, and the scholarships are just one way to get a head start.
The Kappa Gamma Gamma chapter awarded $13,000 total in scholarships Saturday to the 12 students, some of whom have aspirations to be engineers, professional dance company members and teachers after college.
The program teaches high school students from Pickens, Anderson and Oconee counties about personal finance, communication, education, etiquette and leadership through seminars and mentoring.
"It's taught me how to be a good leader and how to be a good man," said Octavius Strong, 16, from T.L. Hanna High School in Anderson.
For Sayvon Williams, a 17-year-old from Seneca High School, the program is helping to shape his character. He's learned the proper way to treat people, to be on time, to prioritize, be patient, and not to judge others, he said.
"It's changing my demeanor and how confidant I am in myself," Williams said."It's taught me the values in life."
Williams wanted to join the program after he saw his brother go through it a few years ago and succeed. He has plans to attend College of Charleston and study elementary education. Through the program, college means even more to him now to follow his dreams of being a teacher.
"I've always wanted to teach other people," Williams said. "When I was little, I used to set up a fake classroom in my room. I'd put stuffed animals around and talk to them. I'd grade fake papers. It just stuck with me."
For others, the program has led them to success. For Nick Conyers, 23, he wouldn't be in Georgia teaching a fourth-grade class after graduating from College of Charleston if it hadn't been for the Young Esquire program. In college, he joined the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, and through that met a man who inspired him to give education a try as a profession.
"They helped me with a scholarship to even start college," Conyers said. "I don't even know if I would have jump-started college. I don't even know if I would have ended up in Charleston."
Through the program and fraternity, he learned to preserve and lift up his friends, which he applies to his classroom every day.
"You have to build them (students) up from where they are," Conyers said. "Once you can do that you can teach them what you need to teach them. It's about building relationships and being a bridge builder."
Dalvin Armstrong, 23, learned from his role models when he was in the program a few years ago.
"I'm from a single-parent household. The men from the chapter were helpful," Armstrong said. "They provided fatherhood and a male role model for me for the betterment of myself and enhancement of myself as an individual."
Now, a senior elementary education major at the University of South Carolina and member of Omega Psi Phi, he participates in various outreach programs such as reading with local elementary school students. He wanted to be a teacher to show young men that they can rise above stereotypes.
"I knew I wanted to be an educator and influence young men," Armstrong said. "I've made it out of where I was, and I can be an asset to my community."
"That program cultivated my success," he also said.
Follow Frances Parrish on Twitter @frances_AIM