2023 Graduates!

With 12 successful years of school now behind each of them, and over 13 years combined with My Daddy Taught Me That - Zyon, Bentley and Tay took time to look back and to plan ahead as they prepare for their high school graduation ceremony this weekend. We are so proud of all our graduates! 

Tay Davis is graduating from Asheville High School and will be heading to Coffeyville, Kansas to attend college and join their highly accomplished football team. Tay earned a full scholarship and credits what he learned at MDTMT for his openness to leaving his hometown and taking full advantage of his college opportunity. “Lake has shared with us how much you get to know yourself, to know who you really are as a person when you get away from what you’ve always known. I look forward to that!”, he says. 

Tay was a 5th grader at Claxton when he first joined the program. He thinks it’s a great thing for our community how much MDTMT has grown and that it’s now well-known in the middle school and at other high schools in the area. Tay says Covid was rough on every student he knows but one positive he’s taking away from it is the insight he gained into his own learning style. He believes it will help him to continue to succeed in college. Tay thanks his Mom and family for supporting him throughout his years in school and though he knows he’ll “miss Friday night football, with the crowds of my friends and hearing the band in the student section,” he also feels excited and prepared to begin his new life in Kansas this July. 

Zyon Jacob is graduating from SILSA and plans to attend barber school next year, either in Asheville or in Charlotte. Zyon excelled in math among his honors classes at SILSA and plans to combine both his creative and business skills in the years ahead - with goals including owning his own barbering business and launching his own clothing line. 

    This summer, Zyon will be working at Mission Hospital and is focused on making and  saving money for his future plans. He says he’ll miss going to school and seeing his friends everyday and also is excited about his next steps. He thanks his Mom, friends, and family for helping him get through high school successfully, especially with the challenges Covid brought to everyone’s lives during his Sophomore year.

       “Don’t give up”,  is one of the first things that comes to mind,  Zyon says, when he   looks back on his years with My Daddy Taught Me That. He is excited about the future home of MDTMT - at 3 Hunt Hill Place - and plans to make time to put in some work this summer to help get the building ready for the next generation! 

     Bentley Harper-Pierce is graduating from Asheville High and will continue his education at AB Tech this fall. He looks forward to exploring new subjects and programs in college before choosing which direction he’d like to go in his career. Bentley will be working this summer and wants to explore the jobs available through the summer program at MDTMT, especially the opportunities with MSLean Landscaping. He’s excited about the new building MDTMT will soon call home and especially in a location that will give local youth such a nice spot to chill or train or play ball. 

     Bentley came into MDTMT as an 11th grader and says he’s learned a lot over the years from the “graduates” of the program, who are still involved and now lead MDTMT Jr. He says boys of all ages are maturing from the lessons they’re learning together. Bentley says, “we’ve had people come here who were getting in fights in school and getting suspended and they came here and learned how to talk to people and not to be so physical. I’ve seen people change.”  And Bentley notices changes in himself as well, saying, “even if you aren’t sure how you’re going to use what we’re learning in your life, you can trust what Lake is saying and know as you’re growing up and being on your own, it will be helpful.”