BALTIMORE — A community is still in mourning over the shooting death of a 17-year-old boy but a group of men are determined to make a difference and inspire a young generation.
Tuesday morning marks the start of a week of recovery for students and staff at Mervo High School.
It comes after 17-year-old Jeremiah Brogden was shot and killed outside the school last Friday.
Police charged another 17-year-old boy with first-degree murder for Jeremiah's death.
Jeremiah’s death not only touched the Mervo community but the staff of the Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys, and people all across the city.
Also Tuesday morning, about 100 men from the community will make their presence known to welcome kids back to school at the Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys. It’s an effort to show their support to young kids as they hope to make a difference.
Meanwhile, Mervo high school begins a week of recovery after Jeremiah was killed last week.
Mervo staff will return to school Tuesday at their regular time but students won't go back until the next day with a staggered opening for different grades on Wednesday, and then a return to regularly scheduled classes on Thursday.
Before Jeremiah attended Mervo High School, he was a student at the Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys.
It's a charter school which serves students from fourth grade to eighth to prepare young men for a bright and successful future in high school and beyond.
All students are expected to learn how to swim, play chess, and have a passport prior to their 8th grade graduation.
On the first day of school at Baltimore Collegiate, men from the Baltimore community dressed in suits or the uniforms of their professions, will line the entrance to the school to shake the hands of students and wish them well as they start a new school year.
About 98 percent of the school’s students are African-American. It is a long-standing tradition at the school for men in the community to show their support and inspire the next generation of young men.
It’s what helps Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys principal Dr. Barney Wilson cope with the death of a former student.
“Even with out own sadness, our job is still there. We still have to motivate, to inspire, to provide hope that there is a future and we just hope that our boys and our girls are able to have a future. We’d like for this senseless killing to stop,” Wilson said.
The group of men will welcome students back to school starting at 7 o'clock Tuesday morning.
The school's CEO said having men from the community dressed in their professional attire shop up on the first day of school, encourages students to see themselves as professionals in the future.
