When Tim King took Keith Robbins into his home last summer, he gave him more than a place to stay. He gave him a future.
King, president of Hales Franciscan High School, practiced what he preached about the power of adults to make a difference in the lives of disadvantaged kids. In doing so, he became a model for all those who wring their hands over the plight of inner-city youngsters but figure there’s nothing they can do to help.
In fact, there’s plenty they can do.
Keith Robbins, a student at Hales Franciscan, had a heartbreaking, hardscrabble childhood. He grew up fatherless, lost his mother to tuberculosis, was rejected by his extended family and eventually, at age 16, got kicked out of the apartment where he had been living alone. But he always made it to school.
When King realized how wretched Keith’s situation was, he felt there was only one thing to do: Take the boy in and give him the home life he had never had.
Last Sunday, Keith graduated from Hales Franciscan with a 4.4 grade point average for senior year and plans to enter Georgetown University in the fall.
He might have made it on his own, but chances are that even a boy as remarkable and determined as Keith might have faltered and failed without Tim King’s helping hand. His decision to become Keith’s unofficial guardian showed the courage and dedication of a gifted teacher and a caring human being.
But you don’t have to be a teacher to help a kid succeed in school, and you don’t have to take him into your home to give him a chance at a better life.
A world of difference is being made in the lives of at-risk youngsters by adults who tutor them in the schools, “adopt” them through the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program or serve as mentors and role models through churches and workplaces.
Keith Robbins is clearly a special kind of kid. And there are thousands more out there who can succeed as well; all they need is someone to let them know how special they really are.
