GATE Graduation and Open Mic Night at South Miami

Yesterday the South Miami Lodge hosted a GATE Program graduation. The GATE Program was founded by Mimi Sutherland, a neurosurgical coordinator from Jackson Memorial Hospital and consists of a series of classes for male teens who are first time weapons offenders. The kids take classes like: Critical Thinking, Gun Consequence, Peer Pressure, Police Rights and Responsibilities and Career Counseling. They also visit a Nursing Home, the Miami-Dade County Detention Center and the morgue. At the graduation ceremony, each boy who successfully completed the program read an essay about himself and his experiences in the program. Mimi and Jayme (her associate) also shared their thoughts about each graduate and the families of the graduates had a chance to speak as well. At the conclusion of the ceremony, each boy tore up the toe tag they had written their name on at the beginning of the program. Many of them go on to become Peer Instructors in the program. The ceremony is incredibly inspriational. It's heartwarming to see these young men taken from a hostile environment where misplaced loyalty to a neighborhood can get them shot and crime is a way of life. After they complete the GATE Program, they understand what opportunities await them and they have the foundation for getting an education and doing whatever they want to do with their lives. Mimi and Jayme really do amazing work.

After the GATE ceremony, Open Mic Night kicked off in the bar. Jeff and Richard (two of the three Elktones) brought along their acoustic guitars and played three songs for a very appreciative audience. They Open Mic hosts gave all the performers MP3 files of their songs, so contact either of them if you'd like to hear them.