Our time with high school students is spent on how can you stand for something you believe in when your peers might judge or ridicule you, why it’s better to earn a lower grade than look on the paper of the kid next to you, why you should be respectful of authority figures, and how you can use adversity as an opportunity.
At South Gwinnett High School, a senior football player had been dealing with a hip injury that continues to get worse. He doesn’t want to let his team down or have his season cut short, but the pain is, at times, overwhelming. His only solution is surgery but yet he continues to push on. He is still at practice, motivating and coaching his teammates, refusing to give up on those to whom he has made a commitment. The injury is at a point where the doctors question how he is still able to endure the pain to walk, much less play football, but yet, he persistently, relentlessly, selflessly pushes through anything and everything that stands in his way of being there for his team.
In Grayson, there is a family with a 4 year old girl who is battling cancer. She is receiving chemo therapy, which is not only tough on her little body but on her entire family. On a Saturday in October, this family was moving out of their house into another home. There, helping them with this relocation during an already difficult time, were 8 student athletes from Brookwood’s baseball and football teams along with Matt Williams, the NG3 staff member at Brookwood. Loading trucks, hauling trash, any task that was needed, these young men anxiously jumped at the opportunity to serve a family that could use a little help, hours after giving it their all on a football field the night before.
We, at NG3, don’t claim to be the reason why the senior at SGHS is such an amazing leader during personal adversity solely because he has been in an NG3 small group; nor do we have the market cornered on selflessly serving others around us that could use a helping hand. We do stand firm in wanting to be a driving force in making stories like these more common-place. We are constantly working to build young men and women of strong character through our character program, one-on-one mentoring, huddle groups and consistent presence.
Interested in finding out more about what NG3 is doing to make a difference in the Next Generation or how you can help? Go to http://www.ng3.co. NG3 is a non-profit 501(c)3 independently funded by donors like you!!
NG3
P.O. Box 1429
Snellville, GA 30078
http://www.ng3.co
Archer HS
Thomas Jannett – Chaplain, Community Coach
Berkmar HS
Javier Muñoz – Character Coach, Community Coach
Brookwood HS
Matt Williams – NG3 Director Chaplain, Community Coach
Grayson HS
Dustin Mattox – Chaplain, Community Coach
South Gwinnett HS
Michael Woelfl – Chaplain
Community Development
Jon Stinchcomb
jon@ng3.co
NG3 stands for Next Generation: Character Community Change. Their goal is to develop men and women of character to create a positive change in our communities. NG3 works directly with student athletes in high schools, teaching and practicing the importance of strong core values like responsibility, humility, integrity and honesty. The staff of NG3 works along side the coaches employed by the school, providing a constant presence of reliability and service.
