Mentor Magnetism
Summer 2015
Walking through the doors of the Dr. J.B. Callahan Neighborhood Center, it only takes a minute or two before Phillip Gordon is surrounded by smiling children who clamor for his attention. A youth counselor at the community center in downtown Orlando 麻豆精品 S檚 Parramore Heritage Community, Gordon is a bona fide human magnet for its students.
麻豆精品 S淜ids love me, 麻豆精品 S� he says. 麻豆精品 S淚 think I understand them a lot, and they understand me too. 麻豆精品 S�
That understanding, according to Gordon, comes from common experience. As a boy growing up in the neighborhood challenged by crime, poverty and violence, he dealt with pressures that carried dire consequences. Friends went to jail. One was killed. 麻豆精品 S淚 had a positive mind, but I followed the crowd, 麻豆精品 S� says Gordon. 麻豆精品 S淚 see a lot of youth here in Parramore who are going through what I went through. 麻豆精品 S�
At the age of 4, Gordon joined the Parramore Kidz Zone (PKZ), a city of Orlando outreach program for at-risk youth where he later found mentors who listened to his problems and steered him away from trouble. As he grew into a teen, his confidence improved and he became president of PKZ 麻豆精品 S檚 Teenz Of Parramore Youth Advisory Council. The leadership experience changed Gordon 麻豆精品 S檚 mind about college, a dream he never thought possible.
For youth counsellor Phillip Gordon, ’13, helping the children of Orlando’s Parramore neighborhood is equal parts work and joy.
麻豆精品 S淣obody around me went to college, 麻豆精品 S� he says. 麻豆精品 S淚 felt proud that the PKZ team was telling me, 麻豆精品 S榊ou 麻豆精品 S檙e a good kid. You have to leave here and go to college. 麻豆精品 S� It stuck with me. 麻豆精品 S�
With that motivation, Gordon applied and was accepted to Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, but after a few weeks he returned home, overwhelmed by homesickness, transferred to Valencia College and eventually UCF through the . Working part time as a teacher 麻豆精品 S檚 aide at the Nap Ford Community School and Callahan Neighborhood Center, he earned a bachelor 麻豆精品 S檚 degree in criminal justice from the College of Health and Public Affairs with the ambition to become a police officer or probation officer as a way to help his community.
麻豆精品 S淢any of the kids here get in trouble at an early age and end up with a criminal record by the time they 麻豆精品 S檙e 11 or 12, 麻豆精品 S� Gordon says. 麻豆精品 S淚n [law enforcement], I could instill in them the same pride that was instilled in me 麻豆精品 S� that I could rise above the norm. 麻豆精品 S�
However, the satisfaction of making a daily impact on his students 麻豆精品 S� lives changed his mind about law enforcement. Today Gordon does double duty at Callahan and the Cherokee School in Orlando while he works toward an Orange County Public Schools teacher certification and eventually a master 麻豆精品 S檚 degree in education from UCF.
麻豆精品 S淲orking with children has become a passion. I want them to look up to me as the person they can come to when they 麻豆精品 S檙e having problems. 麻豆精品 S�
And he 麻豆精品 S檒l remain in the troubled neighborhood that he was once encouraged to leave, hopefully as a physical education teacher at the new pre-K through eighth grade school that is planned to open there in 2017.
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Just like working with children.