A 1961 graduate of Scott’s Branch High school, Harold Brunson has been trying to build positive relationships with youth through Clarendon School District 1 at St. Paul Elementary School since the 1990s.
The founder and mentor of Boys to Men, Brunson left Summerton after high school graduation to attend the University of South Carolina, where he received a degree in social studies. He then went into the military, and was stationed in Korea during the Vietnam era. He later returned to the University of South Carolina, receiving a master’s degree in educational administration.
He ultimately taught and served in school administrations in several South Carolina school districts. He founded Boys to Men while serving as an administrator in Greenville. He moved his group to St. Paul Elementary School in 2003.
The group, Brunson said, focuses on relationships between fathers and sons that some male youth miss out on when male figures are absent in their lives. It is a non-profit group fueled by donations made from parents. These donations go toward supplies for the students.
“This is a calling for me,” Brunson said. “It’s something that the good Lord has put on my heart to do and I do it just for the pleasure of doing it. My drive is that I was once one of these boys. Even though I had two loving parents growing up, I was a follower and found myself making wrong decisions and going down the wrong road. I had a mentor who wrapped their arms around me and pointed me in the right direction, which was life-changing. To be successful in this line of work you must be a caring, non- judgmental person with a heart for the job.”
Brunson said that the most rewarding part of his job is helping the young men that have “lost their way” on the verge of having been expelled from school. He has seen some of his former students move on the college careers at some of the more prestigious schools in South Carolina.
“There is a particular former-student that I’ll always be proud of,” he said. “He started off as a very mixed-up young man during the early years of the program. Now he is a commercial artist in California. Several other students we have mentored have moved on to play football all Clemson University. We have had some great successes and we are proud of them. We have not so successful cases too but that comes with the territory.”
During group sessions the boys are taught basic soft skills, including manners, etiquette, self-respect, how to conduct themselves in public on a daily basis and positive decision-making.
A fellow mentor and teacher’s assistant at the school, Al Thomas, said that the bonding process missed during those vital years are sometimes devastating for male youth.
“During the pre-teen and teen years, if positive role models are absent, young men may attach themselves to the wrong types of role models, which could have a lasting detrimental effect on their lives,” Thomas said.
The program is a non-academic class and is permitted to function during school hours. The program is mostly offered to students who are on a non-academic track.
It is voluntary, currently holding more than 56 students in the group this year.
“Young men, during these vital years, often struggle to find who they are, which is a strong factor in deciding their place in life,” said Brunson. “Through the “soul-searching” years, teens are vulnerable and often fall victims to predators. Our group focuses on strong male mentoring relationships in-order to create leaders and not followers.”
For more information, call Brunson at (803) 478-2286.
