Warren Central teacher Thomas Mayfield is out to make a difference in students’ lives and introduce young men to the types of mentors that shaped him growing up.

“I have been blessed to have a great grandfather and father who have given me the guidance to be a great man,” Mayfield said. “If I can pass on what I learned from them to these young men, that will make the world a better place.”

Last school year, Mayfield started G.I.V.E., which stands for Gentlemen of Intelligence, Valor and Excellence, a community service organization for young men at Warren Central. The goal of the group is to introduce the members to leaders in the community who can be role models for them, while also enabling the members to be role models for younger children in the community.

“I wanted to try to give them a way to have positive role models in school,” Mayfield said. “I noticed a lot of them didn’t have the role models they needed so we wanted to do an organization that would give them a chance to care about somebody other than themselves in the community.”

Members go to the elementary school to read to students and have also held can food and clothing drives and worked with the United Way. This year, the group helped to collect donations to assist the victims of Hurricane Harvey.

“It was really fun going around the community and reading and serving others,” Kevin Liu, the vice president of G.I.V.E, said. “It makes me feel like I am getting something out of it and impacting somebody’s life.”

Mayfield said he originally had the idea to create G.I.V.E. after multiple students said they wanted to be like him and looked up to him.

“That was a life-changing event for me,” Mayfield said. “There were several times in my life that people told me they wanted to be like me and it brought tears to my eyes. It shows you that you can have an impact inside and outside the classroom that will change lives forever.”

The group had about 50 members last year, but Mayfield said this year they are hoping to have a smaller group that will be more close-knit and enable them to accomplish more.

“I think it will teach me to be a better man and better person in the community,” Christopher Pope, who is the president of G.I.V.E., said. “I see a lot of what Mr. Mayfield does and I want to model myself after that and really help the younger kids become men that society would like to see them become.”

Mayfield said he hopes to continue building G.I.V.E. and eventually expand it to Vicksburg High, reach younger children and bring in speakers to come and talk to the members.

“I want to expand to the younger kids and get them in junior high or even elementary school and let them know that there are mentors out there that can help you grow as you get older,” Mayfield said. “You don’t have to do these unnecessary things. You can grow, you can be a positive man and you can be a positive student.”