Making a difference: Lehman enjoys working with young people

Published 3:56 pm Sunday, April 1, 2018

Rodney Lehman is continuing a legacy from his younger years with a dedication for helping youth.

“I have a passion for juveniles and young people,” Lehman, a campus police/resource officer at the Vicksburg Warren School District’s Academy of Innovation.

“When I was a young person, I had somebody older than me who invested into me, and that was my youth pastor at that time.

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“When I graduated high school, I left for a mission trip, where I was part of an organization called Global Youth Ministries. What we did was go to youth camps across the southeast, so I just worked with high school kids and junior high school kids that summer.

“I’ve always had a passion for young people, just trying to get them to be better people, but also as far as the spiritual aspect, investing into them because I had somebody invest into me when I was young.”

A native of Greenville, Lehman came to Vicksburg at the age of 15. “I pretty much call it (Vicksburg) home,” he said.

“I joined the Culkin Volunteer Fire Department when I was a senior in high school, just trying to give back to the community.” He also worked as a dispatcher for Vicksburg-Warren 911, and was a patrol officer with the Vicksburg Police Department and the Warren County Sheriff’s Office before becoming a resource officer.

“I was working with the students at my church (Crossway Church); I just saw this job opened up for the school district, and I knew that it was part of my calling. I just moved into this resource officer position to invest into the students outside of church and in the school.”

Resource officers, Lehman said, have a unique role. They are certified law enforcement officers, “So we do have law enforcement status in the state. But we’re also counselors. One of our biggest things is mentoring. We mentor a lot of kids as far as making them think outside the box and also make the right decisions.

“Kids that necessarily don’t have a good home life, when they come to school with a bad attitude or they’re having a bad day, we just walk their life with them while they’re here. The seventh- and eighth-graders here, unfortunately, I only have them for two years, but I try my best to mentor them the best I possibly can, as far as how many I have.”

Lehman is a life leader for Crossway Church’s City Student Ministry, working with ninth grade boys.

The student ministry, he said, is for seventh- through 12-graders, and each grade has a life leader.

“Junior high students will get a life leader in the seventh grade who will follow them into the eighth grade,” he said.

“When they enter high school, they will get a life leader who will get them in the ninth grade and follow them through high school. What we do is we invest into the group we have, but we also have a service that has speakers who talk to the group and have a full bond.”

Lehman meets with his group twice a week, once on Wednesday night during regular service times for the student ministry, and again on Sunday evenings.

“Sunday evenings are time to socialize, and we meet in a home on Sunday nights where we just eat, hangout and socialize. And pretty much do life together.”

He said he stays in contact with the group members during the week through letters or text messages. “I grew up in the youth ministry at Crossway, and my youth minister poured into me and invested into me, and it’s my job now to take that role that he gave me as far as investing into other students as well.”

Sometimes, he said, his work carries over and helps with his ministry. A lot of students in the school system attend church at Crossway, Lehman said, “And that helps me as far as connecting with them outside of school and following up with the ones I know more.”

He said he sees a generational difference because of the effect on technology.

“Ninety percent of the kids now have iPhones and smartphones. When I was in school there was no such thing as an iPhone or a smart phone. We had computers, but the phones put so much stuff at a quicker pace than I had.

“You have social media like Instagram and Snapchat, and Twitter, and all these other social media sites, and there’s folks out there who use those social media sites for the wrong reasons. Every student in the school district has a computer issued to them in seventh through 12th grade.”

Although Lehman is assigned to the Academy of Innovation, he also visits other schools in the district, adding he can see the differences in the schools and students.

The atmosphere at the Academy, he said, is calmer because at 400 students it is smaller than many other schools, like Warren Central and Vicksburg High schools, which have student populations with more than 1,000 students. Looking at the future, Lehman’s not sure where life will take him.

“I believe God’s got me here for a purpose at the Academy, and I’ll be here as long as he allows me to. If he calls me somewhere else as far as a career is on concern, me just being a firm believer in Christ and what he’s done for me, I have to follow that calling, whether that be at the academy for the next ever how many years.

“I would like to be here, but ultimately, it’s not really my decision, it’s whatever God puts on my heart and wherever the next door opens up.”

About John Surratt

John Surratt is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in general studies. He has worked as an editor, reporter and photographer for newspapers in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post staff since 2011 and covers city government. He and his wife attend St. Paul Catholic Church and he is a member of the Port City Kiwanis Club.

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