Overwhelming response saves mentorship program 

Brother to Brother high school training begins at lunch, Sept. 5, in Room 629. The program officially starts when high school older brothers meet their junior high little brothers for a meet and greet as well as free lunch, Sept. 26.

Advisor Terry Richards founded Brother to Brother seven years ago in order to create a bond between high schoolers and junior highers. Noticing the junior highers were frequently bullied by the high schoolers, Richards felt called to resolve the issue.

“Well, what I find is Brother to Brother makes the school run better,” Richards said. “The school runs better because we don’t have the hazing. When I first came to Fresno Christian, the junior highers were thrown in the trash cans daily, flushed in the toilets and all kinds of stuff going on from the high schoolers. They were scared to death of the high schoolers.”

Initially, only eight high school boys signed up for Brother to Brother this year. Richards needed high school mentors for all 30 junior highers who signed up as little brothers. Richards requested journalism adviser Greg Stobbe’s assistance in spreading the word to high school boys. Stobbe began a campaign to encourage high schoolers to sign up for Brother to Brother and ended up getting almost 30 more high schoolers to join.

“I was very disappointed,” Richards said. “I knew we were going to get a large number of junior high boys because we had a large increase in junior high population. I expressed my disappointment to Mr. Stobbe who took it on as a mission and he did a good job of it, too. I was stunned but grateful because I was praying about it and ended up with more than I needed.”

Richards looks forward to his seventh year of Brother to Brother with many junior highers excited to befriend an older high school boy. The first high school training begins at lunch, Sept. 5, in Room 629. 

To read more about the Brother to Brother program, read Brother to Brother promotes Manliness Conference, provides mentors.

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This author can be reached via email Harjot Chhina.