Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) leaders and community partners finished their celebration of reading during April SuperMENtor visits across Head Start centers. Next month, Harris County’s youngest learners will honor and thank these male mentors for their commitment and sharing their love of reading this year.

SuperMENtors is part of the Head Start Significant Male Initiative, bridging together male role models with students. Mentors typically read the second Thursday of the month from October through April. This month’s book is “Roar!” by Pamela Duncan Edwards.

Students receive a copy of the book read each month to build their own personal home library.

What makes SuperMENtors unique is the program connects students as young as three years old to positive male figures who commit to regularly visit the classroom. This investment into student success is critical at this early developmental stage before students move onto kindergarten.

Superintendent James Colbert Jr. (Dogan); assistant superintendents Jonathan Parker (JD Walker), Dr. CJ Rodgers (Channelview) and Dr. Tyrone Sylvester (Fonwood); division director Joe Carreon (Coolwood); and Academic and Behavior School West Principal Jatata Hutton (Coolwood) were among the volunteers who read this week. In addition to HCDE staff, a number of community partners and volunteers make up the 40-plus mentors across 12 Head Start campuses.