Texas Motor Speedway & Math

Through Mercy Street and the teachers at Carr Elementary, I had learned that Kevin was proficient in reading, but was struggling in math and science.  This is something I had been encouraging him to get excited about, but was unsure of how much progress was being made.

Recently, I offered him “the deal”.  If he would give me 3 strong weeks in these classes, I would take him to a NASCAR race.  He had never been to NASCAR, and had not followed it, but he appeared to be very excited about entering “the deal”.

After a week into “the deal”, I called him and asked how his part of the bargain was coming.  He was excited to tell me he had made a 100 on his math test the day before.  I called him the following week, which was race week and asked how the week had been going.  He reported he had made an 81 on his science test.  Needless to say, I was very excited about this.  Kevin demonstrated the capacity to make strides in subjects that are not his natural strength, thus we BOTH got to go to the NASCAR race!  I asked about how he pulled it off and he said he had studied for the test.  Yea!

             

Kevin & His New Buddy

I told him I would keep my end of the deal and would pick him up after school on Friday and we would head out to the race.  He seemed genuinely excited.  We stopped along the way and got some cokes and snacks.  When we got to Texas Motor Speedway, we toured through the vendor area.  Kevin met an interesting character along the way (see pic).    He also locked in on the Juan Pablo Montoya merchandise trailer.  He saw a t-shirt he really liked so we made another deal.  I told him I would give him so many bills and he had to tell me the change he would receive based on the price of the t-shirt.  After careful thought, he figured it out by thinking it out, no paper.  He got the shirt!

            

We went inside the track, where he learned to program a race scanner.  We were able to dial into race teams and hear their radio transmissions throughout the race.  When the cars came around to take the first green flag of the race, Kevin learned what “NASCAR Thunder” means.  The noise was deafening, as our chests vibrated from the horsepower.  I looked down and saw the biggest smile and the widest eyes I have seen on Kevin’s face.  It reminded me of my excitement, when I heard of his improved grades.

             

A NASCAR fan may have been born that night; and maybe even an engineer one day!

Uncle Bill is a Good Find

 A recent young lady, LaKeisha James, an SMU Sports Management major, spent some time down at Mercy Street and here were her findings...

            Broddrion Hatcher was, by his own admission, a troubled and angry child.  His mother was in and out of jail and his father left when he was very young. He was taken in by a friend of the family.

            For Hatcher, the oldest of five children, a hard life became even harder. 

 “When I was ten, the lady neglected me and I would go weeks without eating or a change of clothes,” said Hatcher.

            Hatcher searched for help and guidance and found it at a program called Vision Kids, which is run by the West Dallas-based non-profit community organization Mercy Street.  The program pairs a child in need with a loving mentor.

            It was there that he met Bill Farrell, known to all as Uncle Bill.

            The two were from very different backgrounds.  Hatcher was poor and from a troubled family.  Farrell grew up in Highland Park and was a successful businessman.  The teenager is black. The mentor is white.

            “I was kind of scared and uncomfortable because I didn’t know what to expect” said Broddrion Hatcher.   

             Hatcher described Bill Farrell as a cool person who he saw as a father figure.  In the beginning Hatcher didn’t want Farrell to get too close.  He had a hard time trusting people, in part because of his troubled past.

            “I would run the streets and rob people,” Hatcher said.

            Over time Farrell has had the biggest impact on his life, the teenager said.

            “It was him who told me life is to short for foolishness. Violence is not key when you have a family to take care for,” said Hatcher. 

             Farrell said that Hatcher didn’t see color and his mother was excited to have someone from the outside who cared for her son. 

            Farrell, was born in raised in Highland Park, where he has live his whole life in Texas.  His father was a lawyer and his mother was a homemaker.  He attended Southern Methodist University, where he majored in business.

            In his senior year, he was the student body president and co-captain of SMU’s swimming  team, which won the Southwest Conference Championships.  He graduated in 1953. 

            Following college, Farrell spent 52 years in the life insurance business as an agent for Provident Mutual Life.  He started out as a supervisor and then became a manager of a start up agency in Dallas.

            Uncle Bill worked with the STEP Foundation (Strategies to Elevate People) in Dallas.  He was later responsible for bringing the “I have a Dream” Foundation to Dallas.  The foundation was created to offer a college education to those who graduated high school and qualified but wasn’t finically able to pay for college.

            Uncle Bill along continued to keep his focus on the inner city and helped direct the founding of Mercy Street with the help of his church Park Cities Presbyterian Church.

            Mercy Street , is a social service agency in West Dallas. One of the goals of the Christian based mentoring program is to allow the students to learn the value of education, to graduate from high school and continue their studies. The program also encourages students to give back to their community.

            Farrell said he was drawn to Mercy Street because of its mission.

            “My conviction that the children were the best entrée into the people of the inner city,  and the best intervention into their lives was by a person who cared for them,” said Uncle Bill.  This is what urged him to be apart of Mercy Street. 

            By mentoring Hatcher and another young man name Larry, Uncle Bill has learned much.

            “It has meant that I have two young high school graduates who are pursuing a career and are two of my best friends,” Farrell said.  He described his relationship with them as mutually transforming. 

            He said he is as close to the two boys as he is to his own three sons.  

             “ I don’t think I would be where I am in my life it weren’t for them, and I pray that they are far ahead of where they would have been had I not been a part of it, said Farrell. 

            Hatcher now 19, is working at Wal-Mart.  He plans to go to a community college and then transfer to a larger  university in Texas. Giving back to his own community in West Dallas and reaching out and helping South Dallas is important to him. And every chance he gets he attends Bible study for the young men at Mercy Street.

            “I believe that change happens only through relationships and mentoring involves responsibility on the part of each party which is the healthiest, most successful agent of change, “said Uncle Bill.