Welcome to Our New Mentors!
First, we are pleased to welcome Jayson Skyberg and Dr. Dennis Jensen to the Boys2Men team! Both Jayson and Dennis bring great energy and commitment, and we’re excited to have them on board.
New and Improved for 2026
Volunteers Lou Bottitta and Rick Larson have been hard at work on several significant changes to the program for 2026:
• A totally redesigned 4-color student guide, with a focus on role models for each Integrity trait.
• For the first time, we’ll have a Mentor Guide to help our volunteers prepare for each week.
• A parent/caregiver Boys2Men Introduction designed to encourage parent involvement.
While doing our research for these changes, Rick discovered an outstanding resource we’re exploring:
Character Counts! – A framework that helps PK–12 students and educators build strong character and positive school cultures. It’s built on the Six Pillars of Character. We have permission to use some of their graphics and have been inspired by their content.
Modern Role Models – Integrity in Action
We’re updating our integrity trait sections of the student guide with youthful and relatable role models:
• Nicholas Lowinger – Responsible | Provides new shoes to homeless kids across the USA.
• Malala Yousafzai – Respectful | Advocate for girls’ education and equality.
• Roberto Clemente – Caring | Baseball legend and humanitarian.
• Ryan Hickman – Good Citizen | Recycling advocate improving his community.
• Hannah Alper – Fair-Minded | Youth activist for justice and the environment.
• Gitanjali Rao – Trustworthy | Inventor tackling real-world problems; TIME’s 2020 Kid of the Year.
New Developments & Growing Interest
Looking ahead to 2026, exciting news: a church in downtown Fort Myers is planning to adopt a school and launch a Boys2Men program for 5th graders there. They’re following the lead of Lexington CC and HPGCC.
As always, we are happy to welcome new mentors, financial supporters, and willing volunteers. Contact Lou Bottitta at 484-788-2160 or via email if you’d like to talk about how you can help. Videos and other info available on our YouTube channel.
Used with permission from The Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University, home of CHARACTER COUNTS®
